That Sunday night found Rachel, Thomas, Angela, Diego, and Theresa in the wardroom with their customary Sunday night card game.
"Call," Diego intoned.
"Already?" Theresa asked.
Angela chuckled and laid her cards down. "Fold."
Diego raised an eyebrow and looked to Thomas. He looked at his cards, puffed out his cheeks, and put his cards down. "Fold."
Theresa sighed and folded as well. He looked to Rachel. She looked at her hand, looked at Diego, and slid more chips to the pot. Hipper chirped and hopped onto Angela's lap, amused at the interplay.
"Call," she said.
Diego displayed his cards on the table. Rachel nodded in approval.
"Hmm… good hand, however…" she said and displayed her winning hand.
Diego threw his hands up as she swept all the chips toward herself. Hipper bleeked at her triumph. He stood and held his hand out for Angela. "Want to go for a walk?"
Angela stood. "Good game, I'll see you all later."
Rachel and Thomas watched their friends leave the wardroom and picked up the cards.
"Another round?" Rachel asked.
Theresa shook her head. "I need to get a call to Ed. Good night."
Ed was Theresa's boyfriend, a second form from Landing City. Thomas returned the cards and chips to a wardroom cupboard. Rachel waited for him on a couch across the room and patted the spot next to her. He sat and took her hand in his.
"I know why you're not, but I wish you were going back to Grayson," he said. "I was going to introduce you to my parents and give you a tour of Macgruder steading. My brothers still can't believe I'm courting you, they wanted to see you in person."
She chuckled. "Would you like me to send them a message?"
"Tester no, you don't have to do that."
"My father likes you."
"He does?"
She nodded. "I can tell."
"I never thought I would meet the Protector in person. He didn't have to, but he stayed and met with every one of us, and he meant every word. Looked in every eye. He's a great man."
"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you like him."
"Because there's so many people that don't."
She nodded. "I think can make a trip to Grayson. Uncle Mike will be going back to help the Chancellor and the High Admiral."
"You'll see me off tomorrow?" he asked.
"Of course I will."
#
The next morning on the academy landing pads, Grayson cadets boarded shuttles for transport to the GSN Saint John and Saint Matthew.
"Well, this is it," Rachel said, her voice wavering.
He caressed her cheek. "I'll miss you, terribly."
"I'll send mail all the time."
"Last call for Grayson!" a Lieutenant called from the hatch.
Thomas gave her a soft, lingering kiss and boarded the shuttle. She plopped down on her duffle, sighed, and watched the shuttle ascend toward the heavens.
Will spoke from behind her. "Grayson One pinnace is enroute."
She nodded and watched other shuttles leave the pad.
At the Jason Bay landing pad, Honor, Katherine, Elaine, and the Mayhew children waited for the pinnace to arrive. Theresa gave a hop and pointed.
"There it is!"
"Yay!" the other children cheered.
Katherine's armsman spoke into his earpiece on its approach and guided the landing. When the landing struts locked in place, the hatch opened and Will poked his head out.
"Hi Will!" Jeanette called.
Will waved and made sure the ramp fully extended and settled before he stepped out and scanned the pad.
He knew the six armsmen on the pad had already done so, but he couldn't shrug off a habit of a lifetime. Once on the ground, Rachel emerged with her duffle, garment bag, and valise. The Mayhew kids cheered at her appearance. She hurried off the platform, dropped her belongings, and was caught in a deluge of mothers, siblings, and treecats. She saw Honor behind them and came to attention.
"At ease."
She did so and was caught up in a strong hug from her 'aunt.' "I can't stay for long, but I did want to see you arrive. Congratulations on completing your first year. It's all downhill from here."
"I'm not so sure, I have astrodynamics next year."
"What's astrodynamics?" Lawrence asked.
Rachel bent over and tapped her brother's nose. "It's how starships fly around without running into planets and stuff."
#
When Rachel finished changing and unpacking, the family sat on the patio overlooking Jason Bay. Rachel sipped from a glass of iced tea and sighed. She plucked at her dress and stretched her legs.
"It feels weird to be dressed in this."
"Are you always in a uniform?" Elaine asked.
"In some variation, yes."
Katherine spoke. "Your father wanted to be here, but he had to leave after breakfast."
"He's meeting with the Queen and President Pritchard. I understand the importance."
"He likes your young man," Elaine added.
Theresa and Jeanette giggled.
"Would you like to see pictures?" Rachel asked.
The kids nodded and Rachel motioned for her tablet that Bernard was tapping on.
"I can play later?" he asked.
"Sure," Rachel said and patted her lap. He hopped up and she flicked through the tablet to her photograph files.
"This is my soccer team."
"My roommate, Angela."
"My other friends; Diego, Theresa, and Thomas."
"My flight class."
"Us playing cards."
She scrolled through photos of she and Thomas. Her eyes softened as she scrolled through Thomas' photos, prompting her mothers to look at each other knowingly.
At lunchtime, Rachel was the lunchtime amusement. When the food arrived, it was Bernard's turn to say grace over the meal. At "amen" Rachel started eating in the way she was accustomed. She heard Hipper bleek loudly. She looked up and saw everyone (treecats included) staring at her. Comically, Lawrence's glass of milk was frozen mid-air he was so surprised.
"Sorry, force of habit," she said and slowed her eating to a normal pace.
"Were you even tasting it?" Elaine chortled.
"Do you always eat like that?" Katherine asked.
"We only get twenty minutes for meals," she answered and Hipper flicked his ears in confirmation. "It'll better next year, I'll get a whole thirty."
After lunch, she composed a message to Thomas. She sat at the home's communication console and initiated the video-audio recording function.
"Hi! Look, I'm not in a uniform! I'm comfortably settled in here at the Harrington home on Jason Bay. I love being with my family, but I miss you."
She paused when Hipper jumped on the desk.
"Four of the treecats stayed back home, but five are here, and we've had a round of keep-away frisbee. I got in some reading for astrodynamics and I got my grades back from this term. I did well in all my classes. Angie is coming for supper tonight; you know she is, it should be fun."
She sighed and gave Hipper a scratch under the chin.
"It's quiet and the pace is slow, which I've decided is a good thing, after all the running around we've been doing for the past nine months. I guess that's all for now. I'm thinking of you, and if I can get back to Grayson with my uncle, I'll let you know. I miss you and love you. Tester bless."
#
Later, she sat on the bay patio and watched her brothers play frisbee with the treecats, while her sisters were in the kitchen with Mistress Thorn. She scrolled through her tablet with the intent to get in some recommended summer reading out of the way. Her mothers joined her on the patio.
"Bored?" Katherine asked.
"No, I'm glad for the quiet. It's good to relax. Speaking of which-"
She paused when her tablet blinked and looked at the message that had arrived. It was from Angela. She was happy to hear from her friend, but she really hoped it had been from Thomas.
"Nothing bad, I hope?" Elaine asked when she saw the frown on her daughter's face.
"Angie wants to meet up for supper tomorrow."
"We'd like to meet her, why don't you invite her here for the evening?" Katherine asked.
"Sounds great."
She replied to Angela's message and set the tablet down with a sigh.
"You were hoping it was from Thomas?" Katherine asked.
Rachel nodded and took a sip of tea. "You two can go ahead and ask your questions. I know you want to."
"You really are your father's daughter," Katherine remarked.
"You're welcome," Rachel replied and winked.
She endured her mothers' question and answer session until Mistress Thorn announced that it was time for supper.
#
She felt a gentle nudge on her shoulder and shot up, startled. For a few seconds, she thought she had overslept and was late for physical training. She saw Theresa standing there, looking at her curiously.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't, don't worry about it."
"Momma says it's time for breakfast."
Rachel nodded. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
Theresa left the room and she rose to get ready for the day.
She let her nose guide her to the dining room and smiled when she saw the breakfast spread. Her father rose from his chair to greet her with a kiss on the cheek. Hipper joined the other treecats with their celery on the room's bay window ledge.
"Pancakes, your favorite," he said and took his seat when she settled in hers.
"This looks great," she said and placed some pancakes on her plate.
"What do you eat for breakfast at the academy?" Jeanette asked.
"We're offered hot cereal, toast, eggs, sausage or some other meat, and fruit."
"Every day?"
Rachel nodded. "Every day. It's easiest for them to feed all of us if they keep it simple. I'm going to be on a starship in a few years, I need to be used to it."
"Well, you get to eat what you want here, if only for a little while," Elaine said and passed her the syrup.
"And take all the time you want," Katherine added.
Hipper chirped and flitted his tail knowingly.
"Your friend is coming to supper tonight?" Benjamin asked.
"They're both going to moon and mope about their gentlemen friends being on another planet," Katherine teased.
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Angie isn't the kind to mope."
Mr. MacGuiness stepped into the dining room and his eyes found Rachel. "Miss Mayhew, you have mail on the main comm console."
She resisted the urge to leave her breakfast and rush to the console. The mail wasn't going anywhere, anyway.
"Thank you," she said and continued her pancakes to show them that she wasn't moping.
"What do you think of Manticore?" Rachel asked her family.
"Different than I expected," her father replied. "Not worse than I expected, just different."
He looked at the children. "I want all of you to remember that different isn't necessarily bad. Just as we might consider the social structure of Manticore odd, they feel the same about our world. The more we learn about Manticore, and the more they learn about Grayson, there will be less misunderstandings. Both worlds will be better off for it."
After breakfast, she did go straight-away to the home's communication console, and all the treeecats joined her. While the cats frolicked behind her, she scrolled through mail from the academy about the next term, mail from academy friends, interview requests from Grayson, and a message from Abigail. Curious, she opened it and saw Abigail's smiling face. She had made full lieutenant. Good for her!
"Hello from the Tristram! Congratulations on finishing your first year! Are you back on Grayson or did you stay on Manticore since your family traveled there? Let me know everything, all right? Take care of yourself, tester bless."
She flipped to the next message and saw that it was from Thomas! Her heart skipped a beat and she opened the missive.
"Hi, my sweet girl!"
Her heart swelled at his greeting.
"We're a day's time from Grayson, and I'm still missing you terribly. I know you're happy to see your family again. I can just imagine you with your mothers, your sisters, brothers, and all those treecats! I thought I would be bored, but the captain gave the engineering officer permission for some of us to shadow the engineers and their crew. We're forbidden to do or touch anything unless someone's life is in danger, but we can ask questions."
He took a bite of a cookie and continued.
"Myself, Wilkins, and Ramirez have a poker game tonight in our quarters. We're going to meet up at home and see each other's steading. My family is planning a party when I get home. I'm the first Masterson to have ever left Grayson, and I'm doing well, so they figure I rate a party. I disagree, but when my mothers get an idea in their head, there's no stopping them."
He looked aside to something out of camera view and nodded.
"I'll sign off for now. Other people want to use the console. There's three for our use here, and there's a line for them. I'll be home by the time you get this, so don't forget how much I miss you and love you. Tester bless."
The comm screen went blank and she heard a thump and the sound of something crack. She rose from the desk and saw Jason and Cassandra looking at her tablet, now broken and on the floor. She sighed and looked to the heavens for patience. Nelson, Artemis, Athena, and Hipper bleeked in disapproval at the kitten's actions. They weren't really kittens anymore, but still very young by treecat standards, enough that they were still mentored by the older cats. Hipper hopped from the desk, picked up her tablet, and brought it to her. She looked to Jason and Cassandra.
"There's nothing wrong with playing, but this means that you need to be more careful when and where you play, all right?"
To show that she wasn't angry, she patted her lap and the two offenders flitted their tails and jumped on her lap for some cuddle time.
#
Rachel met Angela at the door when she arrived. Her friend was welcomed inside, holding a bottle of wine and gifts for her hosts. She led her to the sitting room adjacent the dining room where Benjamin and his wives were waiting.
"Good evening, thank you so much for the invitation. It's an honor to meet you, Protector. My parents send their best wishes and extend an invitation to their home for dinner," she said.
Benjamin took the wine and gave the gifts to his wives.
"That's very kind, we'd be happy to attend," Benjamin said.
The Mayhew children and treecats came into the room. "Angie, let me introduce my mothers, Katherine and Elaine. The rest of the brood are Theresa, Jeanette, Honor, Alexandra, Arabella, Bernard, and Lawrence."
"I'm pleased to meet all of you."
"You know Hipper, and those two are Nelson and Artemis."
She looked to the kids. "I assume Athena is with Jason and Cassandra?"
Alexandra nodded. "They were at the beach, going after the huge crabs!"
Lawrence held up a finger. "Yeah, a crab got my finger!"
Elaine chortled. "Well, that should teach you not to put those fingers where they don't belong!"
Chirping and bleeking preceded the arrival of the remaining treecats. "And that's Athena, Jason, and Cassandra. Athena is the oldest of all of them."
All the 'cats quieted and peered at Athena when she froze, crouched and looked at Angela. Theresa pulled on Rachel's sleeve and nodded at Angela, who seemed as if she was in a trance, her head cocked sideways. The moment was broken by the joyous bleek from Athena when she leaped at Angela, who already had her arms out for the 'cat. The Mayhew family left the sitting room while Angela and Athena got acquainted. Rachel and Hipper sat next to them on the bay window ledge. Athena was on Angela's lap, pressed against her as close as she could, gazing adorably up at her person.
"Congratulations, welcome to the club," Rachel said.
Angela looked at her, still amazed from what had happened. "How? Why?"
Rachel shrugged. "No one knows, but you're very fortunate. Athena is the oldest and wisest of the Harrington 'cats. You have a best friend for life."
"I know," Angela said and cuddled the furiously purring 'cat.
"You'll need to let the academy know," Rachel said.
"It won't be a problem, will it?"
"Not at all. They can't be excluded when they're bonded, that's the law from what I understand. Six other cadets have their 'cats, yours truly included, and there's been no problems. They're well-behaved, friendly, healthy, and you've been around Hipper enough to know that he doesn't get in the way. He's been a blessing when things got tough."
"Oh shoot, I'm holding up dinner!" Angela declared.
"They understand. They're happy for you. However, Miss Thorn's special potatoes taste best when they're hot."