"Well. That went down with the usual human diplomacy and tact."
Anthony looked over at Chuck. The humor in the man's voice, as he rubbed his shoulder, helped ground him. Anthony gave a rueful sigh.
"That did not go as planned, needless to say."
"I should hope not," Hannah said, moving to his side. She cast a glance towards the bridge door. "Is she..."
"Hope not. Nona..."
"On it." The Malay was quickly tracing Miriam's path, Tammy at her side. The blonde almost seemed to be acting as body guard, although her rage thankfully was fading. Reaching the squirrel, Nona dropped to one knee. "She's breathing."
"Good." Anthony let out a breath. One less thing to have to worry about, although now they still had to deal with her. "We probably should tie her up, or something." A second droid, red with a blue vertical stripe, came out of the same opening in the ship wall as the taser droid. Its two arms ended in handcuffs. Anthony turned to Daium. "We HAVE asked you why your father built droids like this, right?"
She nodded.
"Yes, you have."
He nodded back.
"So long as we asked." Anthony let it drop, watching the robot secure Miriam's stirring form. He loved Daium as a friend, respected her, and knew that it was only due to her help that they were still alive. Still, he also had to admit her father being dead when they stumbled into her home had probably been the best case situation. The more they learned about him, the more surprising it was his daughter was as she was. Not that she probably didn't have her own buried dark side...
"How do we know it's actually them?" Alicia's question was echoed by a couple others. Daium let out a breath, shaking her head.
"We don't. And we can't prove it was them. If they do their thing, and something happens a thousand lightyears away, how are we going to connect the two? Or even know about both? Best case, we get a list of when they have done this, and match it to our experiences and those strange energy readings we've gotten. But, that's still not proof."
"What's the old joke?" Chuck asked. "Guy buys a house with a light switch that does nothing, and he flips it every time he walks by. A month later, he gets a letter from a guy in Germany telling him to stop it."
"But..." Mary came up to her mom again, hugging her. "I did it differently than you guys! I didn't just vanish!"
"There are different ceremonies."
Anthony looked over at Sarah. The furry prisoner's entire body seemed... deflated. Disillusioned, defeated, eyes looking at anything but the humans. Justin was holding one of her arms lightly, but it was obvious she was going nowhere.
"We're not going to hurt you, Sarah. Or Miriam. Tell us what you know, and we'll let you both go."
She nodded, eyes still on the ground. Anthony indicated that Justin should let her sit on the stone path. He and the other humans took over the park benches, Nona and Tammy coming over to join them. Legs folded under her, Sarah. spoke.
"First... I am sorry, Lords. I did not know..."
"We are NOT lords," Chuck said, drawing his wives close on either side of him. They were once again holding the babies. "I think that's the entire point here. And we know you didn't know. Nobody could. It's what you, she, did after knowing that's the point."
Sarah nodded again.
"Yes. I know." She sighed. Taking a deep breath, she seemed to gain strength. Lose some of that submissiveness. To Anthony, it was almost as if the real woman was coming to the fore, someone kept under wraps until then.
"They do the ceremony, use the machines, several times a year. There are different versions, always changing, as they try to make it work. Sometimes the change is in the machines, sometimes in the ritual." She gave a tired laugh. "The ritual has been becoming more important, or so the rumors say. I think I joined more for that, than for the actual reality of you humans."
"How many of you are there?"
"Few hundred. Maybe more. We are scattered, now, somewhat. It is another recruiting time, so missionaries are out and about, not at the temple. Plus, there is the new temple. Some have gone ahead there..."
"Two temples?" Alicia leaned forward, eyes narrow. "Are there two machines we have to deal with?"
"No, no. The second temple is not yet active. Miriam was to lead it. We brought the books to fill its library, have with us the plans to build the new machines for the ceremonies..."
Daium leaned forward, excited.
"Plans? With you?"
"Yes, although I have not looked at them. I am just an acolyte."
Hannah, one arm around Mary, the other hand caressing her swollen belly, frowned.
"Do we deal with the machine, or the people? If we can just tell them to stop..."
"Enough will have the same reaction as Miriam to make that dangerous," Nona said. "We know how some of the religious on our planet are. It won't be much different here."
"But we have to try!" Melinda looked around. "We're not going to just bomb the place or something! Killing hundreds to save a few of us isn't right!"
"Morals are annoying, yes," Chuck said, dryly. His eyes flicked over towards the bridge. "Our friend is awake. Pissed and quiet, but awake."
"Ignore her," Rinda said. "It's what we do with Sarah that's the main question."
"We toss them off the ship," Tammy said, voice cold. "We take the books and anything else we need, give them our leftover money so they won't starve, and leave them at the spaceport."
"We can't have them warning anyone," Melinda worried. "If they have a ship and outrun us..."
"We have no ship," Sarah said quietly. Melinda raised an eyebrow at her. "No ship. We have passage booked in a week to the site of the second temple, but no way to travel beyond that."
"See?" Anthony gave Melinda a reassuring nod. "If we warp right away, we'll have a good jump on any news..."
"Let me come with you."
****
Sarah watched the reaction to her words. She was asking them to trust her. To trust someone they had just met, knew nothing about, and who was the servant of those they now had cause against. But, then, she was also asking herself to trust them. Trust those she knew nothing about, who had just confronted one she had considered, if not a friend, then a teacher and mentor. Neither side had long to consider the matter.
"No," Daium said, all four eyes boring down on her. Sarah forced herself to meet that gaze.
"I will not plead," Sarah told her. "I will not protest whatever you decide, but hear me. I know the temple... somewhat. Have been there. I have a friend, a childhood friend, who joined with me. She is still there, and..." She faltered. What could she say, with honesty, about Hedva? Would her friend see things from the Human's point of view, or would she side with the Miriam's of the temple?
The brown skinned man, who had left her side to once again be with his mates, regarded her from behind his glasses.
"And you want a chance to talk to her."
"Yes." Sarah lowered her eyes again. Were these not Lords, after all? They knew, knew so much... even if it was just a guess, or reading her expressions, still, they were special.
"You'll be a traitor." The blue furred Orang's smile was not the kindest she'd seen. Sarah shrugged.
"To some. My people, in general, think She Who Saw is an insane freak. I will not be traitor to THEM." Not that she cared what her people thought. The temple's training had not had to instill a disregard for her people. That had already been there, to some degree. They only had to take advantage to her yearning for something more. Something outside what was expected of her.
What was more outside that, than where she was now?
"Traitor!!!!"
Miriam's cry made her wince. Why. Why did it have to be like this. Why couldn't Miriam have seen the humans for what they really were, seen things the way they saw them...
"Oh, what the hell. She can come."
Sarah's head shot up, meeting Daium's eyes. The Orang stood, walked up before her, dropping to one knee. She could smell fruit on her breath.
"Just understand your position. Earn our trust." Daium paused for a moment. Her voice lowered almost to a whisper. "And stay away from our men."
****
"No... no... no... no..."
Anthony just shook his head as system after system dropped off the list of possible destinations. This one had contact with the squirrel people, that one was outside the usual monetary systems. Daium had almost set a course for a world filled with methane breathers, before catching the mistake.
It would have been a good choice, apart from that.
"Damn Hannah, and her wanting us to be fully supplied before taking on the temple."
"We could always eat less," Daium suggested. Another list of planets popped onto the screen. "Is sixty light years away too far? Here's one that fits. Even has three inhabited planets and a few moons."
"I'd like to be right on the galactic rim, but... what's our travel time?"
The right side of the forward bridge wall filled with equations, possible paths through the nothingness next to reality the ship would be traveling through. Was that what the M'ntsn sect was tapping into? Somehow punching holes through that into Earth's reality? And, if so... was there a way for them to take their ship back home at the end of a warp, instead of back into this universe?
Naturally, given their luck, they'd end up in some galaxy far from the Milky Way.
"Best course gives us seven weeks."
Anthony considered. Seven weeks. They had never traveled that far in one jump before. They could hold enough supplies, naturally, probably had enough now, but their reserves would be very low...
With a sigh, he leaned around Daium and hit a button on the console before her.
"OK, gang, the first ideal destination is seven weeks away. I want an accurate inventory of all supplies. If we can't last eight weeks, I want to know it now. We lift off and warp as soon as everyone reports back.
He stood back up. There. The order was given. His job was done.
It was good to be the manager.
****
Danny sat shirtless on the hard metal floor.
Chuck, shirt still on, adjusted the wrench a few turns and returned it to the bolt on the front of the droid's four foot tall cylindrical body. Danny held his tool, inserted into the open access panel. Chuck's eyes came up.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
Danny locked his arms, grip tight. His hands were beginning to sweat, and he hoped to hell he didn't let go again. Real men didn't do that...
Chuck leaned into the droid, his full weight coming down on the wrench and the stubborn bolt. Danny felt the pressure on his wrench, but countered with his own weight, holding the interior nut still. There was a moment's hesitation... then the bolt gave, rotating. Chuck half grunted, half growled.
"OK, hold it, let me..." Rotating the wrench for a couple full turns, he dropped it and grabbed the bolt with his bare fingers, continuing to turn. Danny felt all tension fall from his tool as Chuck pulled the six inch bolt out. "Got it. Now, gently, pull that nut out. Try not to drop it, or you're going to be the one fishing it out."
That put more worry into Danny than he really needed right then. His arms trembling a bit in his effort to keep them still, he moved his body back. Slowly, the black tool came out. He could see it. See the tarnished silver of the five sided nut held in the end of the wrench. It was almost out. If he could just clear the side of the droid...
"Hey, Chuck!"
Mary's voice came from the doorway behind him. With a jerk, he fell onto his butt, wrench pulled out of the machine. The nut flew off, clattering on the floor somewhere to his left. His eyes quickly went to Chuck. The man... well, he may have been amused, but that amusement was not the kind that made Danny's life an easy one. He grimaced, putting the tool down and casting his eyes around for the lost nut.
"I'll get it!"
"Indeed you will. I'm not moving."
Danny saw, with a relieved breath, that the thing hadn't bounced far, or under anything else. Scooting his body across the droid bay floor, he grabbed it. It wasn't until then that the fact Mary was there, registered. Turning, he looked up at her. He had never seen the girl from this angle, him on the floor and her standing. He was close to her bare, white legs, ending in flip-flops. Her toes, he noticed, were cute, nails painted pink. His eyes began going back up her legs. It was only when he got to her knees that Danny realized, before actually seeing it, that she was probably still wearing the skirt from that morning. He did NOT want her to think he was looking up her skirt! His eyes jerked upward to her face.
Mary was looking down at him, face a bit red. Her eyes were not on his face, although they WERE on him. With a jerk of her head, she brought her eyes up to meet his. Her face seemed to get redder.
"You interrupting our manly work for a reason, Mary?"
Chuck's amused, and not amused, voice seemed to jolt her head up. She... she had been looking at Danny! Looking at him the same way he had been at her, and been as embarrassed at being caught! Damn it, Chuck had been right! Well, then. When he had a chance, the young male teen would have to ask his mentor some more questions about girls. He was an expert! With a smile, Danny kept his eyes on Mary's red face.
"Um, yeah. Mom said they decided Sarah is going to sleep on the patch of grass next to that bluish corn, and wants to know if you can have a sentry droid to sort of... keep an eye on her."
"That's what the hell I'm doing," Chuck replied, putting the bolt on a tray and grabbing a water bottle. "Tell Miss Mom that we're switching out some parts on this guy, and we should have him ready to go in an hour or so. I'll also have bots that will take over watching her if she enters the zero g parts of the ship. The guards I put up last night we'll also keep up, for now."
"OK..." Her eyes seemed to be going everywhere but Danny. Danny saw Chuck get a familiar grin on his face. The brown haired man cocked his head at the girl.
"If you want to learn how to do this, let me know. I could use an assistant who isn't all butterfingers like you know who here."
Danny saw her eyes come back to him. The thought of... WORKING with her...
Well, that would be worth any amount of teasing from Chuck!
****
A level below, Goldie was hard at work.
It was hard, much harder than she wished it was, to find things Goldie could do well. It wasn't a matter of skill, of effort, or will. She had all of that. It was her body. Her stupid, four legged body. Anything that required hands, especially using hands while standing or walking, were a horrible strain on her. She WANTED to do them. Wanted to be useful! Her brother was useful! All his weird face kept him from doing was using a drinking glass!
Still, if there was one thing her friends and shipmates were good at, it was fitting her in with the rest of them. Inventory had to be taken, and Tammy and Nona had asked her to help. Hung around her neck, like a VERY heavy necklace, a computer tablet swung back and forth as she walked. Ever few feet, she stopped, sat on her haunches, and marked what boxes and containers she saw. Now and then, she'd stand to get a better view, trying to then walk and write the way the others did. Her record was ten steps.
Stopping at the end of a row of flour barrels, she sat and tallied up what she had so far. They knew, somewhat, what was supposed to be in the hold. What they had bought, what had been used. However, not everything was logged when dragged up to the kitchen. Some things went bad, turned out to not be edible (or, worse, only edible by Orangs). However, it looked like in her assigned section at least, all was accounted for. Rotating her sore shoulder and neck muscles, she sighed.
She was done.
The question now was, where were Tammy and Nona? For awhile she had heard them talking, but things had gone quiet. Something must have really demanded their attention. Getting onto four legs again, Goldie started her search.
****
She found them busy, although not the way she expected. Coming to a stop ten feet away, she sat, eyes wide. Nona's back was pressed against the wall of the second fresh water tank. Pressed against her front was Tammy, one hand under her shirt, the other in her black hair as they kissed. The one hand of Nona's she could see was cupping Tammy's breast over her shirt.
Goldie had seen couples kiss before. Boys kissing girls, girls kissing girls (no boys kissing boys, though. She wondered why.). She had even seen, in the shadows at night, her friends making love. This, however... maybe it was because it was unexpected. Because she didn't know they were a couple. Or, maybe, because she had spent months looking at Nona, trying to see what her brother saw in her. Finally seeing someone kiss the dark skinned girl... her body was reacting. She wanted... something. Her body wanted something. Something...
Two giggles came from the women before her. Tammy stepped back from Nona, turning to face the furry teen while her partner in romance hurriedly adjusted her outfit and smoothed her hair. Tammy's face, while a bit red, was nowhere near the color of either Nona or Goldie.
"Ah. Finished? We did too, a little while ago."
"I saw." Not knowing really how to react, Goldie settled for an embarrassed laugh as she removed the rope from around her neck. Rubbing the indentation the necklace had left in her, she handed the computer pad to Tammy. "All accounted for."
"Thank you, Goldie." There was honest thanks in her voice. Goldie blushed even more. She loved helping.
****
Daium and Rinda stood on either side of Sarah. The two, taller than she was but nowhere near the height of many of the humans, had spent the last half hour making sure she understood. Telling her the difficulties of being with humans, the changes she'd have to make in her life. She'd have to eat their food. Watch and listen to their entertainment. Understand THEIR ideas of humor.
"Chuck, especially," Rinda was saying, "will say things that seem to make no sense, although Melinda is not much better. Just ignore what you don't understand. It is never hurtful. Never take offense."
"Goldie likes to touch, but not so most of the others. Do not touch them unless they touch you first."
"But, I saw..."
"How human mates act, and how they act towards non-mates, is very different."
"Ah." Well, Sarah was not the touchy feely kind herself, but contact between M'ntsn WAS part of the social norm. "So..."
"So you give them time to get used to you." Rinda smiled. "Don't worry. We've broken them in for you, mostly."
Sarah smiled back.
"Thank you."
"Earn our trust, and soon this will be your home as much as it is ours."
"So long as you don't touch the men."
****
Miriam, rubbing her wrists, watched as the large, egg shaped ship rose into the air. Daemons. That was one of the words She Who Saw had used to describe the beings she had seen. Her use of the word had been positive, worshipful. Now Miriam saw the word as representing evil. These were daemons all right. Horrible, deceitful creatures, tempting the righteous into betrayal. They had tricked Sarah. Poor, fallen Sarah. But, that would be the extent of it. They had no chance against She Who Saw, She Who Fucked, or any of the other True Followers.
After all, SHE had resisted.
Hmm... She Who Resisted. Had a ring to it, did it not?