by L. Fergus
“Like you’d know.”
“When was the last time you read a book?”
“I watch the holos. Faster, hot chicks, and I can eat while I watch.”
“…And you wonder why you’re just a triggerman.”
“Shut up, kid, before I break that pencil neck of yours.” There was a harsh knock on the door. “Did someone order takeout?”
“Probably our hosts wanting Kita,” said Rabbit, sliding off the couch. She went to the door and fumbled with the controls until it opened. Her brow furrowed. Cotton sat hunched down with both feet completely touching the ground. One tapping rapidly.
“We’ve got enough bunnies. We don’t need more,” Rabbit snarled at Cotton and hit the button to close the door.
Cotton stuck her hand in the door to keep it from closing. “I do not care what you want, little human. Where be Vicereine Kita?”
“Vicereine?” Rabbit echoed.
“That be her proper title, or is she requiring her full title of Vicereine Commandant Mistress Duchess Black Rose be used as an insult to me?”
Rabbit grinned. “I don’t know, but I’ll demand its use if it irritates you.”
“What the hell does that all mean?” said Hawke to Auggy. The old man shrugged.
“Either way, she’s in the shower. So don’t call us, we’ll call you,” Rabbit told Cotton dismissively.
“Then I will wait here,” Cotton said, trying to push around Rabbit.
Rabbit’s suit expanded and she blocked Cotton’s path. “You’re not coming in here.”
“You’re in no position to tell me no, human. I am above your station and as the highest ranking person on this ship I may go where I wish when I wish.”
“This is Kita’s ship.”
“That is true, but it is on a mission to deliver me to the summit. Until that mission is over it is my ship.”
“That don’t mean you are her master and commander, flopsy,” said Auggy. “The ship still belongs to her captain. I don’t care if God himself is aboard.”
“It’s a god is aboard,” Kita corrected, coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and drying her hair with another. “That God is a true work of fiction.” She looked at Cotton. “What do you want? I thought we settled everything at the round table.”
“I not be here about official interactions. I be here for personal interaction.”
Kita raised an eyebrow. “No thanks. I’m not really in the mood. I kind of took care of that already. Go back to your section of the ship. If I need you, I’ll call.”
“You cannot be dismissing me. You will be listening.”
“I am not going to be ordered to do anything. Go, before I throw you out on that tail of yours.” She dismissed Cotton with a practiced wave of the hand and turned her attention to Rabbit. “Did they bring my armor back? I put it in the cleaner, but it disappeared. I hope I didn’t throw it down the garbage chute.”
Rabbit shrugged. “Only cottontail’s been around since you’ve been in the shower. I wondered what was taking so long.”
“Years of pent up angst.” Kita turned to look at Cotton. “Why are you still here?”
“You will please be talking to me. I do not wish to be hostile between us,” she answered with far less attitude.
Kita sighed. “Really? We’ve got to do it now? We just got done with a marathon session of talks.” Not that they weren’t important. With Snowy’s help, she’d solidified her position among the Diamocks. She was now on her way, with Cotton, to represent an outsider’s perspective on the subject of war with humanity. Her and Snowy’s intimate knowledge of humans was desperately sought.
“It’d be preferable,” said Cotton.
Kita wiggled her nose in agitation and looked at the others. She gave them a subtle sign to duck. “Fine, but give me a chance to finish drying.”
Kita cracked her hair around like a whip, sending sprays of water around the room. She used it as an excuse to turn herself around. She fluffed and flapped her wings to shake the rest of the water off them. When she was satisfied, she tucked them back in and turned back to face a soaked Cotton.
“Sorry. You didn’t catch the signal to take cover?” She motioned to the others climbing out from behind various pieces of furniture. “I bet that wasn’t covered on TV.”
“Kita, I brought some bodysuits over from Dallas,” Case told her. “They’re in that box.”
“Oh, thanks. That beats walking around here naked.” Kita saw Lacy’s face for the first time. “Are you ok, Lacy?”
Lacy nodded slowly.
“She’ll be fine,” said Case with a smile. “She’s just getting used to her new life.”
Kita chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I’d be doing the same if I could.” She walked to the box and pulled out a bodysuit. She unwrapped the towel from around her and tossed it onto the back of a chair and shook out the suit before stepping into it. She sealed it up the front and paused for a moment as she waited for the neural connection. When it connected, she configured it how she wanted.
“How in the bloody stars did you get it to do that?” Case exclaimed.
“Do what?”
“Look like that.”
Kita looked down. She wore her familiar cross top, low rise skintight bottoms, and heavy, black boots. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing,” said Hawke.
“Yeah, but how’d you do it?” said Case.
Kita shrugged. “I thought about it? I can’t tell you more. If I remember, I’ll tell you.”
“It’s possible, but you need an advanced suit or some other way to manipulate the fabric beyond the simple processors built in,” said Raph.
“So how’s she doing it?”
Kita shrugged as she went to where her gear sat on a side table.
Raph shrugged. “Maybe she’s got an implant in her skin or something.”
“I didn’t see one, but maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places,” said Hawke.
Kita ignored them and checked her weapons and kit, before strapping it on. She then braided her hair, her nimble fingers picked up speed as she went.
“You not be needing to be armed. The ship be safe,” Cotton said to her.
“I’m armed everywhere I go. Best to be prepared.”
“You not be needing personal weapons with your abilities.”
“What? Threatened?” Kita said as she looked into her makeup kit to reapply her face.
“You be looking ok without the face paint,” said Cotton.
“I know, but I don’t do it for me.”
“Then why?”
“Psychological warfare. It can bring up many different emotional reactions in people. All of which you can exploit. Isn’t that right, Case?”
“A little makeup, a smile, and having fun on the dance floor will get you free drinks all night. It’s even better to see the looks on the guys’ faces when you leave in another girl’s arms.”
“Dammit, I knew it,” Hawke grumped.
Kita finished with her lipstick. She kissed her palm and blew it at the Legionnaire. “You can always try your luck with Jess.”
Rabbit raised an arm. Her bracer extended into a full gauntlet, and she gave him a rude gesture.
Kita shrugged. “Well, maybe one of the diamock females is adventurous. All right, I’m ready, Cotton,” she said to the Verisom, who was busy running a comb through her fur.
“Yes, Kita. Where’d you be liking to talk?”
“Let’s go to the senior officers’ deck. I have no idea what my office looks like.” Not sure why I need one, but I have it.
Kita followed Cotton down the narrow hallway. In this part of the ship no giant creatures were expected to need access. They took an elevator, which could easily hold four of the rock piles, called Graniites, inside. It rose to the upper levels of the ship.
In Diamock culture, your rank was everything, so there were very visible divisions. A Diamock frigate was larger than a human one and carried more p
ersonnel. Kita’s ship, Mauler, had three bars: One each for senior sergeants, midlevel officers, and senior officers. The rest had to sneak their alcohol aboard.
The senior officers’ lounge was empty. Kita took a stool, while Cotton took a plush non-species-specific chair. Mauler often transported dignitaries of the other races. It explained the ease with which the crew converted everything.
Cotton ordered a beverage from her homeworld. Kita, not feeling adventurous, took water with a protein additive.
“So, what brings you stubbornly to my quarters?” Kita said after the drinks arrived.
“I wish to be starting over. We started good, but fell apart.”
Kita nodded in agreement. Why are you so interested in me? Cotton had become colder and colder as the meeting went on. Could she just have been impatient? Part of the reason it had taken so long was the communication window with Snowy. It hadn’t helped that Kita and Snowy had kept going on personal tangents when the window was open. Maybe it was something else? Jealous of Snowy?
“True. My friends did come on a bit strong. I can’t blame them. They were scared, and Jess is particularly protective of me.”
“I be noticing,” Cotton said coldly.
Jealous of Rabbit? Maybe both? “So tell me, you said your father was part of your guard detail, but your mother was the queen? How does that happen?”
“On Verisom, the ratio of males to females be about five thousand to one. Females obviously be having lots of power and choices. Every female be above a male. My father be winning the chance to mate. As a reward for producing a female, he be getting to protect me.”
“So you produce enough offspring to maintain civilization, but only those with strong genetics get to produce. Interesting. I don’t think I’d like to be a baby factory,” Kita said, sticking her tongue out.
“Males have babies and take care of young, except for females. Females be raised by females.”
Kita raised an eyebrow. No wonder the Verisom had a complex. “So what do you do the rest of the time?”
“Females govern and learn. Males raise young, do labor jobs, and fight. How about Angels?”
“Angels have one sex and come from human females. Sometimes we interact with humans or other races, sometimes we stay to ourselves. Coming from humans, we share a lot with them culturally. Physically, we’re smarter, stronger, and tougher than they are.”
“So how you be making an Angel?”
Kita frowned. “I don’t know. I know there are more of us or were, anyway. It might just be Snowy, Tina, and I left for all I know.”
“So, you not a true race?”
“Our genetics are 7.7% different from humans. That’s a big difference. We are not an organic race, but a manufactured one, which makes us far superior in my eyes.”
Cotton tried to hide a subtle sneer. Heh. A little touchy over your race?
“Without variety races die.”
“That’s what we take from humans. They’re very diverse. Your genetic makeup can’t have that much variation either.”
“Every female is different, and a male only be mating once. Our genetics be good.”
Kita held up a hand. “I’m just saying neither of us is as diverse as humans.”
“How you be sure?”
“Humans are like insects. Even when you think you’ve killed them all off, enough survive to repopulate. Those that do live are the genetically stronger ones and will come back harder than ever.”
“We will see,” Cotton said, turning up her nose.
“Hopefully, we won’t have to.”
“You don’t be wishing to kill them?”
“It’s not that, I enjoy killing them and everything. I don’t mind going to war with them when they fight each other. I don’t know how I feel about going to war against the entire species.”
“My males be crushing them.”
“I don’t know how well they’ll fare in sarongs and with spears.”
“That be traditional dress.” Cotton waved at her sarong. “Males in heavy space armor are unstoppable and love to fight.”
One of those giants suited up like a tank would be imposing. “It will be interesting, to say the least.”
“If there be war, you will not be fighting?”
“If Diamo goes to war with the humans, I’ll be there. I told Snowy at the meeting I would be, and I won’t let her down.” How do you feel about that?
“She be thinking she knows best. She don’t know us or what we do. You be putting too much faith in her.”
Kita smiled to herself. “Snowy’s a brilliant scientist and military strategist. I would listen closely to what she says. She dissects problems like I do enemies. To compliment her brilliant mind, she’s a grandmaster melee fighter. I love her to death, and she’s the only person I fear.”
Cotton’s nose twitched in disgust. “No one be that good. Everyone has weakness.”
“True. I’m her weakness, and she’s mine.”
“Explain,” Cotton demanded.
“We’re like two of the same magnetic pole. You can hold us together at a close distance, and we’ll do well. Try to push us together or take away the force holding us together, and we’ll fly apart, usually in a very tragic and explosive display. I like to think it’s my fault,” Kita added with a smile.
“Maybe you be needing someone who not so reactive.”
Kita ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, suppressing a grin. Talk about reactive and explosive. “Maybe, but Jess keeps telling me no.”
“She too small and be unworthy of someone like you.”
“You have somebody in mind? Lacy and Case are nice, but I get the feeling they’re fun to hang out with, but not the kind that can handle me.”
“I handle you,” Cotton said firmly.
Kita grinned. “You and I are having a passive aggressive bordering openly hostile conversation as a first date. I know your type—rich, spoiled, conceited, narcissistic, vapid, a princess. What makes you think you can handle me?”
“You be coming back to my quarters, and you find out.”
Kita laughed. “And what do you know of Angels in that respect?”
“I not be just studying Reality. Human sexual reproductive documentaries also be studied.”
Kita’s eyebrow slowly went up. “I’m afraid I’d be a really lousy date. I’d be like a virgin on prom night.”
“Don’t you be worrying. I be showing you.”
Interesting… “I don’t know,” she said, pretending to think it over.
“If you be thinking silly cat be good with tail, you should be seeing what I can do with mine.”
“All right, I’m game,” said Kita. She used a smile to hide the satisfying feeling she felt, which only increased when she saw the triumphant look on Cotton’s face.
Kita returned to her quarters. Cotton was right. She did know how to use her tail. Still, why does the tail of a black jaguar keep coming to mind?
“Where have you been?” Rabbit demanded before Kita even got through the door.
Kita walked in farther to let the door close.
“Learning more about Verisom culture,” Kita admitted with a smirk that couldn’t hide all of her grin.
“And what culture is that?” Case said, raising an eyebrow.
“Little of everything,” said Kita.
“So, what does bunny taste like?”
Kita winced. She looked around.
“Auggy’s sleeping, Raph is glued to some poor tech’s hip, and the two war heroes went off to play with the dogs,” Lacy said. “Please continue. This is most amusing.”
Kita shrugged. “What’s there to say?”
“Ok, you sleep with an alien, and you’re trying to pass it off like just another Friday night romp,” said Case. “If you’re going to live with us, I want details.”
“Wait,” Rabbit cried, “you slept with that heinous rodent ultra-bitch?”
“Little bit,” said Kita.
“How
could you?” Rabbit said, continuing in angst. “She’s like a bloody bunny. How’s that even possible? When were you going to tell me? She’s not coming back here, is she? I’ll mount her fluffy ass to the bloody wall. The bloody muppet had better have kidnapped you and tied you up.”
“There was a bit of that.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Ah, that I wanted to sleep with a bunny and let her talk herself into it,” Kita said with a smile.
“You actually wanted to? Are you out of your bloody bugger mind?”
Kita shrugged. “I’ll try just about anything once.”
“Oh, you are disgusting,” Rabbit shrieked.
Auggy came stumbling out without his glasses. “What’s the matter, lasses? Another of those rock things?” he said, fumbling around trying to see.
“No. Just a big tramp banging bunnies and wanting to parade it around in front of the rest of us,” Rabbit screamed as she pushed Auggy out of the way and ran to her room.
“What did I miss?” said Auggy.
“Just a broken heart, Auggy,” Case said quietly.
“Poor lass.” Auggy sighed. “Made up with the bunny, did ya?”
Kita nodded.
“Always one storm after another, no matter what ya do. Guess I won’t be going back to sleep,” he muttered as he went back to his room.
“So, do I talk to her now or later?” said Kita.
Lacy shrugged. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“You want me to talk to her?” said Case.
“Nah, I can do it,” said Kita.
“Good, then you can come with me and wait,” said Case, standing up.
Kita frowned. “I’ve got it.”
“I’m sure you do, but I’m sure the last thing she wants is to talk to you.”
“It’s my mess. I can clean it up.”
“Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you can. Haven’t you ever broken a heart before?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s your problem right there. You don’t feel bad about it. Come on,” Case said, patting Kita’s arm as she went by.
Kita grumbled as she and the cats followed. Not only for someone else pushing her aside, but also for having her afterglow ruined. Oh well, it just meant another visit to Cotton’s quarters.
