Jupiter tries on her fifth gown, and frowns.
"That's a lovely piece," intones the unctuous voice of the tailor, an approving smile upon his nut brown face which does not reach his hazel eyes. And it was lovely, a long gown of black heavily embroidered in silver, a low neckline with a high, filigreed collar. Somehow it reminded her too much of the gown from her abortive 'wedding.' The previous gown had also been a black and silver number, a simple black bodice fading to a silver train, and a silver lace shrug for the shoulders.
"Why are they all black and silver?" she asks, noticing a pattern in the choices being offered.
"Why, those were Her Majesty's instructions. They are the heraldic colors of Abrasax Industries."
"Oh. Of course." She replies as if she had known all along. The tailor's thick eyebrows lift slightly. She gazes back at her holographic image, which turns and allows her to admire the vision from every side. It's one thing, she is discovering, to want a thousand beautiful things. Quite another to have to choose a mere handful. Her desire for the wardrobes she once coveted appears to have waned, especially if they consisted of black and silver. Her face lights up when she sees Kiza walk up in her own gown.
Caine's eyes have glazed over, but his ears remain on alert. He, Hersh, and Gemma block the doorway to the private changing areas. Next came the colorful array of newly minted royal guards. Bob stands just outside, providing the royal assemblage their polite space, yet a smile flits over his lips each time his eyes flicker to Gemma.
"I like that one," Jupiter says to Kiza, noting her shining face. The base is a deep plumb, with a shimmering sheath of pale translucent peach that bares her shoulders, but continues down her slim arms and flares in a soft cuff. She spares herself a moment of envy that Kiza enjoys any choice of color. The tailor sniffs, displaying his displeasure at serving a splice, but demurs when Jupiter favors him her nastiest scowl.
Kiza turns to Caine.
"What do you think?" she asks, beaming. He smiles indulgently.
"Pretty." Kiza grimaces.
"What do you really think?"
"It looks hot, and like it would tie you up in a fight." Kiza's eyes widen, and she gives the gorgeous garment an assessing look.
"You're right."
Caine raises his nose, and sniffs. His ears perk. Hersh does the same, and they drop into fighting stances, weapons drawn, each on either side of the entrance. Caine releases his umber and bronze wings, ready to ascend.
"What is it?" Gemma asks, reaching behind her back to retrieve her own twin weapons. A rapid volley of shots fires into the private fitting room, sizzling the holographic Jupiter.
"Noooo!" yells the tailor. He runs forward to rescue his creations being fried by crisscrossing beams, but falls back and wisely sprints out the stock room door. Cries rise up from the royals crowding the shop, and continue into the street as the chaos spreads.
"Caine!" Jupiter yells as he takes to the air, but he hovers, shaking his head.
"Stay with Gemma!"
"Quickly, Your Majesty, to your ship!" Bob yells over the confusion.
"My what?"
"Your lightship!"
"We must return at once to the cruiser!" Gemma instructs.
"The hangar is closer!" argues Bob. "Hangar one thousand seventy.."
"Never mind that," Gemma interrupts. "Relay the coordinates." Bob quickly tilts his hand and he and Gemma touch palms. If a sim could blush, he would have turned exquisitely pink. "I've informed Captain Tsing of our status. Come with me, Your Majesty," Gemma commands, and begins shooting into the crowd. Hersh follows her lead, while Caine takes the fore, searching for the origin of the shots.
"What are you doing?" Jupiter cries aghast as Gemma continues to drop more bodies in the shop's display room.
"Just a stun, to clear the way," Gemma yells back, then returns to focus on the route she is creating.
"Your Majesty!" Kiza yells, and lifts her palm, displaying the array of tabs.
"Oh!" Jupiter remembers her own boot guidance system and rapidly engages them. She and Kiza glide over the bodies mounting behind Gemma, then she trips and sprawls headlong onto the tiers of some oversized headdress. The elegant hem had fouled the gravity boots. She hikes the dress and tries to tie the flowing fabric into a hasty knot at her waist. Kiza does the same, and they soar into the broad corridor now swarming with panic.
"Bob!" Jupiter yells behind her. He hops over the bodies, trying to catch up.
"Ooof!" And Gemma sweeps him up, tucks him under her arm, and begins to run at her considerable top speed toward the nearest welcoming gravity beam.
"Stun!" Jupiter yells at the royal guards, fearing they would take matters into their own limited...hands. In response, her guards engage the other royal guards who have taken offense to their own royals being stunned. Their various colors seem to have created a confusion among the assassins and the offended royals, who cannot be sure to which entitled her guards actually belong. Caine soars in from above, shooting some, knocking others to the ground before rendering them inert. In the bedlam, Jupiter cannot decide who is the enemy that started the fire, and who has become their enemy because of their own in return.
"Aren't we going to get in trouble with the Aegis?" she yells as they run through along the avenue.
"You're legal fund should be sufficient for any fines this incurs," Bob replies cheerily, bouncing along under Gemma's arm.
A silver gleam catches her attention as they glide towards the beam. She sweeps low and lifts the gun as she passes.
"What are you doing?" Kiza calls, swinging closer.
"It's just stunning right?" Jupiter aims the gun. Kiza grasps it, and flips a switch.
"Now, it is just stunning." Jupiter pales.
"Thanks," she mutters, and begins to fire.
"Quickly, before security containment locks down this level," Gemma instructs.
"Positions," Hersh yells, and the royal guard forms a ring around the party. Caine remains poised above, aiming at what appears to be a group of hunters skulking among the fallen. They rise in the beam, volleys of shots following them upward. Two of the guards sizzle. Caine swoops low in response, gauging his shots carefully. Hersh, Gemma and Kiza take aim at the hunters, forcing them to go to ground, allowing Caine to reach the beam just as they breach the next deck.
"This happens more than the Aegis likes to admit," Bob sighs as they emerge on the landing above.
"What?" Jupiter glides as close to Gemma as she can, trusting Caine from above, Gemma as her shield. The festively colored guards glide behind, down by two.
"Assassination attempts, of course. Just part of being an Entitled."
"Not clear yet," Caine reminds them, and Gemma nods towards what appears to be a massive train. They race forward, though no shots follow them from the deck below.
"Have they locked that down, too?" Jupiter asks, gliding along beside him. He grasps her hand, and together they fly faster.
"There are plenty of other ways around," he says gravely. They reach the train, blocked by the throng queued and waiting to embark.
"Tickets," Bob pipes up. "You can put me down," he looks up at Gemma. She swings him upright, and he straightens his tie and pats his hair knob into place.
"Your seal," Caine touches Jupiter's wrist.
"Here, Your Majesty," Bob indicates one of the pillars just outside the sea of people.
"Right." She waves the glowing blue signet along a pillar. A lane suddenly opens, ushering the other entitleds aside.
"Not all royals are equal, Your Majesty," Bob explains. They step onto the lane and it pulls them forward into the foremost door of the vehicle. The door slides shut. Jupiter catches her breath, looking around. Unlike any 'train' she had ever known, this berth was filled with dining tables and chandeliers, a stage with musicians and a dance floor. The royals around them murmur at the disturbance, so the team finds an empty table and, with an air of innocence, take the seats.
"Two stations to the hangar tower," Gemma reports.
"You're damaged!" Bob exclaims with concern. He puts a finger to the scorch mark along Gemma's cheek. She touches the damage, brushing his finger along the way. Jupiter slides the elegant little gun under the table, attempting to tuck it ito the folds of her gown.
"Oh, my dress," she groans. The hem had become shredded by the stray shots and the beams of her boots.
"If I may, Your Majesty." Gemma reaches down and deftly rips the remaining apron of fabric into more of a tea length style. A few of the original travelers turn their noses up, and move to a farther table.
"Huh. Cool," Jupiter responds as Gemma does the same for Kiza.
Two stops later, they resume their watchful positions, and exit the train. No opposition greets them as they rise three levels and cross the bridge to the docking bay. Jupiter looks up through the force field of a roof, jaw slack with amazement. Nothing so large and grand as Titus', tiny even by comparison to the Aegis cruiser. Yet, its belly gleamed in gold and bronze swirls across a black and crimson field.
"Your Majesty," Bob indicates another pillar for her seal. She is spared only that glimpse before Caine rushes them into the gravity beam, and they rise.
The interior is equally elegant and rich.
"This is my ship?" Jupiter runs a finger along the high polish of the wood inlay.
"As part of my assignment, I was uploaded with a list of all properties relevant to the House of Abrasax."
"So, this belonged to Belam." She raises her hand as if burned.
"As a Prime of the House of Abrasax, you are entitled to use of any of the firm's ships."
"But his holdings haven't been decided yet."
"Well, true." Bob conceded.
"You mean, I'm stealing a ship?"
"Technically," Bob hesitates, "yes."
"It opened to your seal, didn't it?" Hersh remarks, and Jupiter half nods, half shrugs her assent.
Caine signals them to follow, and they continue upward until reaching the main deck. He takes the control chair and lifts the guidance system. Nothing happens.
"Your Majesty," he sighs and motions with his head.
"What? Oh." She slides her wrist over the panel. A rumble and the ship lights into life. Gemma takes a station and begins working the controls.
"Grav drive engaged."
"Shit," Caine mutters, looking ahead.
"Six shadow ships to starboard," Gemma reports.
"You," Caine barks at Kiza, "side gunner." Hersh throws himself into the opposing gunner position without direction. The shadow ships begin to fire a blazing round of shots. Caine slides the lightship from the docking bay, Kiza and Hersh returning shot. The trajectories reach far beyond the shadow ships, and the tidy lane of traffic minding its busy business begins to scatter like a nest of disturbed ants.
"I think the legal fund is likely to suffer a bit, Your Majesty," remarks Bob.
"Buckle up!" Caine calls. Under his guidance, the lightship angles forward and down, towards the planet. Jupiter grips the sides of her chair, watching in horror as they careen in and out between the disarray of ships. The squad of shadows follows, firing. They swing close to one of the great towers, then he sharply pulls up. Hersh hits one shadow square, and the ship spatters into its subsequent parts, spraying out before gravity claims them.
"The Aegis is aware of our condition. Zeros are scrambling." Two of the shadows come at their ship from either side, spraying them with bolts which spark off the screen. Jupiter gasps and squeezes her eyes shut. Kiza crows with success and Hersh destroys a second, but four more slide in to take their positions.
Caine rolls the ship, then tilts straight up towards one of the primary greatrings circling the planet. He skims low, using the towers and docks for cover. The shadows fire indiscriminately, so with a grimace he pulls away, unwilling to cause more damage. Back out in more open space, a dozen more shadows pepper them with fire. One of the side engines coughs and spins away. The ships lists crazily before Caine compensates.
Suddenly, a volley of fire spews over the ship from behind.
"That's not the Aegis," and Hersh redirects his fire.
"Wait, they are firing with us, not against us," Caine calls back. The two ships fire in unison, taking out four more shadows which spin crazily towards the surface.
"That is an Abrasax signal," Gemma explains. Then a dozen squadrons of zeros dart among the shadows, causing them to scatter. Caine aims the ship straight up, and clear of the fray.
"Abrasax lightship LS97, please confirm your intentions," Gemma commands.
"Happy to be of service, Your Majesty," is the sum of their reply before the ship turns and rapidly moves off.
"Entitleds," Hersh grunts. "So that was the ship Captain Tsing thought was ghosting us?"
"Status report?" Captain Tsing requests over the auditory communications, and behind her, Gemma speaks, but Jupiter isn't listening. One of the cabinet doors to the rear of the main deck had been knocked ajar during the fire fight. A gleam of iridescent silver catches her eye, and she unbuckles and steps towards it, pulling the door wider. Her mouth drops in awe at the armor within. Bob, ever on the job, follows her.
"Why does it shine like that? With colors?"
"That is an iridium alloy, one of the rarest metals in the universe."
"So rare only an Abrasax could afford it?"
"Presumably, Your Majesty." Jupiter lifts the scales, and they run through her hands like water. Gemma occupied, Caine relinquishes the pilot seat to Hersh and moves to examine what has so enchanted Jupiter.
She looks to Caine, and breaks out in a Cheshire cat smile.
"Now there's an idea."