The Trinity Sitch - Book 4: Heart of the Fury
Chapter 22: Dress for Success
The tiny crew cabin wasn't made for comfort, at least with the exception of the beds themselves. Just like its Earth-bound military counterparts, space was considered a premium. There was a spartan, metal dresser that doubled as a desk, all of which could partially fold up out of the way. It all came down to the fact the space was intended for an officer to get his rest and prepare himself for duty, nothing more. It was not a living space, it was a sleeping space.
Kim had been awake for some time, though she really didn't want to move. Ron was curled up against her back, one hand tucked under her waist, the other, well, it was resting where it often did when they slept in such cramped quarters. She really didn't know why she was so loath to actually get up. They had been down for almost ten hours now, though not all of that time had been spent actually sleeping. At first, after a short nap, Kim had climbed into the upper bunk so she could stretch out a little better, only to find herself staring at the metal ceiling just three feet above her. After spending about an hour of drifting in and out of sleep she took the pillow and climbed back into the lower bunk with Ron. In minutes she was as sound asleep as he was.
Twisting slightly, she shifted a little tighter into his embrace. In reality she wanted a few things, not the least of which was a pot of coffee. Not that it was likely the Torellians actually had anything that resembled the brew. That didn't help the fact she still wanted it. She also wanted a nice long shower, especially considering the sweat the two of them had worked up in the middle of the 'night.' (There was no true night time – crew slept when they were off shift.)
Thinking along those lines she considered waking Ron. There really wasn't much space in the bunk, but they made do just fine. It reminded her of all the times when they had been younger when they had been tempted to become more intimate, the attempts to find a place private and secret enough, sometimes in very small spaces just like this. Only now, not only being adults but married adults the layer of guilt was stripped away, leaving only the physical difficulties. Not that it mattered in the long run, given their 'where there's a will there's a way' attitude. They also discovered it was easier to be quiet if they were kissing at that special time, not knowing how soundproof the interior walls of the spacecraft were.
Both Ron's hands tightened on her just slightly as his body started moving slowly against hers. She could feel his lips on her neck. He was awake. Oh, he was most definitely awake. "Mmmm, I like your wake-up calls." She whispered, twisting around to meet his lips with hers, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
Many minutes later they finally managed to get out of bed. Kim stood up straight in the narrow floor space, stretching toward the ceiling. As usual, Ron made sure to watch the morning ritual, enjoying it all the more so since she wasn't wearing her usual bed clothes like her old sweats or his old red jersey.
"Any idea what they have for a shower." She said, finally dropping her arms.
"I think you're standing in it." He said, pointing up. Sure enough, there was a sort of nozzle with many small holes there, surrounded by some kind of ring. The floor was very slightly concave, with a drain located in the middle.
"How in the world?" She asked, staring up at it. "I don't see any kind of controls." She dropped to her knees, looking through the empty drawers of the dresser. The door-less closet near the entrance was completely empty as well. "No towels, no soap. Are you sure that's what this is?"
Ron found a set of controls near the door. They were marked in script they assumed was Torellian and, even if it had been in Arkonian they had no reason to believe their mysterious command of the spoken language extended to reading. Since he couldn't read it, he did the next best thing.
He started pressing buttons. The first one caused an audible clicking sound from the door. He pulled on it, finding it now locked. "Okay, that would have been nice to know about last night." The next one was clearly the lights. They wouldn't completely go off, but he could set them at one of three levels, finally selecting the brightest.
Finally he hit pay dirt. The ring above Kim lit up with a soft pink/purple light and a series of bars on the control panel lit up. One, then two of the bars winked off. It was a timer. Making a quick judgment of the size of the ring, he moved quickly to stand right with her, just in time for the bars to run out.
A cylinder of light formed around them, just as lukewarm water started spraying out of the nozzle, running just long enough to thoroughly soak them. There was a chime, then the spray started again, this time covering them with a slightly soapy smelling solution. As quickly as it stopped they set to helping each other scrub the hard-to-reach spots. There was a chime and the water started again, rinsing them off quickly."
"We still don't know how we're going to get dry." Kim said as the water stopped. Just about that moment the force field keeping the water contained in the shower area started to contract. They both yelped, but there was no place to run so they let it run its course. The whole thing shut off completely, leaving them clean and mostly dry (it didn't do too well on Kim's hair.) The whole thing had taken approximately three minutes.
"That was…quick." He said, looking up at the projector ring.
"May be something to do with conserving resources. Remember, the Trinity was built as a luxury yacht and when we were on it we were alone. It had the means to reprocess all the water on board, so we really wouldn't run out." She said. "I've heard about submarine crews having to take two-minute showers or something like that. They've got a fairly big crew on this ship and it's not much bigger than Trin." She said, using the ship avatar's nickname. "Now, I just want to know one more thing." She said, still looking up. "Do these Torellians actually pee?"
Ron glanced around, then went to a section of wall with some empty shelves. He pulled on a panel, which folded downwards, revealing the room's facilities.
Kim, who remained very private about that sort of thing, no matter how intimate she was with her husband, stood there, a look of utter horror frozen on her otherwise pretty features.
It was starting to become clear why Sherry Lipsky had finally cut off a large portion of her hair. Kim's was now almost as long as the former villainess', tapering to a point just past her waistline. At least that's how it normally was. The 'drying' properties of the 'shower curtain' worked fine on their bodies, but as it appeared the Torellians didn't have hair, it just didn't have the oomph to work on her considerable mane. It now hung limply down her back, feeling heavier than ever. For the first time she was thinking it might even be a liability in the field. She had discounted the notion when Sherry related the story of how Aviarius once grabbed her by her raven locks, almost snapping her neck.
She was back in the Vershaltian dress, it literally being the only clothing she had at the moment. The outfit wasn't exactly the most comfortable she had ever worn, being made of cruder materials than she was used to, not to mention the fact she thought it looked like what Cinderella wore when she was working for her evil stepmother. It wasn't exactly her look.
Ron, on the other hand, couldn't stop smirking at her.
"What?" she said as their escort led them through the ship.
"Nothing. Just think you look like the girl in The Little Mermaid dressed like that."
She snorted, trying to stifle a laugh at the image. She had the right hair color and all. Still, she was glad he was speaking English. They had no idea how many of the Torellians actually spoke Arkonian, though it wasn't probable that any of them would have any idea what the reference meant anyway.
The language thing was really starting to make her wonder. Kim had taken enough language courses to notice some similarities between Arkonian and some early European languages. That, combined with the fact all the natives of that planet they had seen were apparently very similar to typical Western Europeans made her wonder about the origin of the culture. After all, they had proven so far to be just as human as they were. It would be interesting to see how that bore out under genetic examination.
When their escort had come to their quarters they had just finished with a second shower. Figuring the intent of the limited time was for individual warriors they took a second turn at it, this time able to time their effort better with the programmed steps. Kim wound her hair up around her head to keep it out of the spray as much as possible, fluffing it out as much as possible when the curtain contracted over them. Ron even mentioned the feeling of it whisking the water off them was kind of invigorating. That's not exactly how Kim would describe it, but she didn't want to think along those lines until it was time for bed again.
The knock on the door seemed to be a universal sign that someone wished to enter. Automatically Kim shouted "We'll be just a minute" as they gathered their clothes. It took her a moment to realize she had spoken in English, though it had the desired effect. The soldier sent to bring them to the Herald's quarters waited patiently as they dressed, politely gesturing the way he wished to lead them. It was entirely likely he spoke only Torellian.
He led them to an ornate, double door at the end of the main passageway, not fifty feet from their quarters. The doors themselves seemed out of place on the austere cruiser. A pair of ceremonial guards (who were likely as deadly as their over-decorated weaponry looked) wordlessly opened the doors, admitting just the two humans.
"Friends, welcome." The Herald said jovially as they entered the sumptuous quarters. They easily took up a third of the ship, a space apparently maintained simply for the man and his family. Waiting patiently behind him were the first Torellian women either of them had seen.
One was as tall and regal looking as the Herald, leading the young couple to assume she might be his 'mate,' a term they had heard used to describe their relationship on numerous occasions. Her armor had many of the same designs as his, but the most obvious indication of their relationship was the shape of the 'horns' on her ornate helmet, their form acting as a sort of familial crest.
The other woman was easily the smallest Torellian they had seen to date. She was quite literally Kim's size, leading her to wonder if she was actually a child. She soon found she was right.
"I was told that in the battle, your…armor was destroyed." He said to Kim. "As my Captain told you, we do not possess the skill to repair the technology, but I humbly apologize that we did not have something appropriate for a warrior matron of your status."
"I understand, your honor. My stature is somewhat smaller than your people, I would not expect such a gift from them." She said humbly.
Berek Den Maak reached up and did something they learned would be considered a very surprising gesture. He took his helmet off, handing it to a servant who silently appeared and disappeared. "It is my people's custom to honor warriors such as yourselves. Even though you are not of our people, you represent the highest ideals we strive for: Bravery, honor, skill. You have also done a great service to us by your example.
"Let me speak to you of Governor Den Taag. It is by no accident he was assigned to control such a distant sector of our realm. By virtue of his birth, he was guaranteed some position of honor, as he is in the succession to the throne, albeit a distant one. He has proven to be both ambitious and impatient, but not wholly with honor. After nearly disgracing himself in a battle with the Republic, it was decided by our Glorious Emperor to send him to this place, making him the voice of the Imperial Court in a place where there were few he could oppress.
"Den Taag we later found out had forged close ties with the leadership of the Arkonians. We knew there was a colony on Troxxite, but we were unaware of their relationship with those in power on their homeworld. When the governor revealed their existence, an order was dispatched to eliminate them by any means necessary.
"I will be the first to admit to you, I care little about the fate of the colony myself. I have the interests of three billion Torellians to worry about. By the same token I would not wish any ill to befall them. It is the fact that Den Taag was willing to commit treason by selling his favor to the Arkonians yet saying he was acting in the name of the Emperor. I'm sure you will agree that the end result was satisfactory."
"Except if I lost, then all those people would probably be dead now." Ron said, more than a little angry at the seeming indifference from the man.
"But you did win, and in doing so cemented the status of the colony as the rightful owners of not only their lands but the world they rest upon. It is for that bravery we revere and salute you." He waved a hand at the petite warrior standing nearby.
"I present to you my adopted daughter, hand-maiden-in-training and Princess of the realm, fifth in line to the throne itself, Joaam Del Maath."
The girl nodded at the couple, then pulled her own helmet off.
She was the first of her race they had seen with hair. Her skin was just as pale as her adopted father's and her hair was just as pale, somewhere between platinum blonde and pure white. Her mane was long, easily as long as Kim's, though it did not cover her head completely, making her look like she had an extremely long face. Most of the hair was caught up into a very long ponytail, with a single lock draped over her face. That part had been dyed with a streak of black and red, though whether that had any significance they had no clue."
"Friends, I must thank you." She began in an almost musical voice. She was clearly young, both Ron and Kim had the impression she was somewhere between twelve and fourteen years old. "I find myself indebted to you for helping to spare the life of my honored half brother."
"Half brother?" both of them asked at once. Jinx, you owe me coffee Kim thought at Ron, not knowing if their link was working at the moment.
Only if I'm sharing the pot with you he sent back.
"General Sagan Del Maath and I have the honor of sharing the same father." She said, bowing slightly at the mention of her brother.
"Our adoption of her is an honorary position, as it is our duty to prepare her for her life in the court. She is currently the only female high enough in the succession to claim the title of Princess and his most Imperial Highness has honored us with the task of completing her training. Now, as such a debt requires, she had offered a gift as a token of that debt."
"My honored father has expressed his apologies that we cannot provide proper raiment for you, K'im St'ap'able." She said, stumbling over her name, trying to add the more familiar diphthongs of her native language. It was the only flaw in her perfect grasp of Arkonian.
Moving for the first time since they entered, she pulled a curtain back, revealing two suits of armor on display stands.
The first was obviously the same armor Ron had been wearing since he was first outfitted for the fight in the arena, though now it had been properly repaired, possibly for the first time since it was originally constructed. The black and gold panels gleamed in the light and there was no trace of the blast points that had been visible. A cape of dark tan material, joined with a short length of silver chain had been added to the ensemble. He wondered if the armorer had wondered what had become of the helmet, unless he had actually been told a human was to wear it.
To the right of his armor was another set, unlike anything they had yet seen. It consisted of a mostly black body suit with metallic silver panels on the outside of both the arms and legs. Over the body suit was what looked slightly like a Chinese dress made of interlinking panels of emerald green material, most likely some type of metal anodized with the color. It shone brilliantly even in the subdued light of the Herald's quarters.
"Wow." Was all Kim could say as the young Torellian maiden led them to inspect their gifts.
"When Father told me there was no armor on board that would fit you, I suggested that it would be fitting to give you a set of mine. It is not full combat armor such as your Honored Mate's, but it is at least fitting for one such as yourself to wear."
"It's beautiful." Kim said, inspecting the green outer layer. It was designed to sit high on the hips, with narrow panels like loincloths hanging down past the knees in the front and back.
Joaam closed the curtain, politely shooing Ron out. Then she started helping Kim out of her crude Vershaltian clothing. Biting her lower lip, she assumed that this was expected. As part of her gift to her, the maiden helped her put the suit on, showing her how each part worked. The inner suit was not terribly different than her ruined super suit, though it lacked any of the sophisticated technology. The fit was absolutely perfect, the young woman explaining the fabric would mold itself properly to her body automatically.
The biggest surprise was that the green outer layer seemed almost weightless. It hung on her like an expensive cocktail dress. If it were not for the extremely high hips, she could have worn it by itself, though her sense of modesty would most likely prevent it. The ensemble was completed with a matching set of black leather gloves and knee-high boots that turned down about ten inches.
Finally, Joaam pulled her hair up into a similar ponytail, pulling one strand loose to hang across her face. She tied it off with what looked for all the world like a black scrunchie.
"I…I must beg your forgiveness if I have assumed incorrectly." She said, judging Kim's expression to be one of confusion. "I know that you are life-mated, but because of your age I thought that perhaps you had not yet borne him a son."
"Is that what the hairstyle means?" Kim asked.
"The lock in front means you have not had a son. The rest is simply to meant to fit comfortably into a proper helmet."
"Oh, well, then you're correct. I haven't had a son or a daughter yet. Ron and I have been marr…life-mated for just a couple months now. Does the color have any special meaning?"
Joaam smiled warmly for the first time since she'd removed her helmet. "No. It only serves to annoy my honored birth-Father. That is why he makes me cut it short so it does not hang below my helmet."
"Oh." Kim said, smiling back knowingly. She thought back to her form of harmless youthful rebellion. Funny that now that for the first time in years she had gone over a week without wearing a bra.
Joaam pulled the curtain back. You would have thought by Ron's expression she was once again wearing that old black dress she bought when she was a teenager. It was especially amazing since it covered every square inch of her body from the neck down.
"KP, that is absolutely badical." He half spoke, half whispered in awe. He had spoken in English, but apparently everyone else knew from his tone that he really, really appreciated his wife in her new 'suit of armor.'
Kim grinned wickedly as Joaam led him behind the curtain. Moments later she heard him saying, "Hey…uh, what are you doing? Whoa, I'm a happily married man."
"Calm down in there, Rondo. She's just doing her job. Just get into your suit as quickly as possible and it'll all be fine." Kim said with a laugh.
A few minutes later the curtain was drawn back again. Kim smiled warmly at him, appreciating the sight of him all done up in armor just as he had her. "Mmmm," she whispered, adding in English "you're so handsome I want to get you back out of that…later."
"Booyah." He whispered back.
Almost a day had gone by since the Trinity left Earth. As quickly as they had left the atmosphere they had accelerated into Hyperspace, lessening the chance that they could be spotted. Sophisticated electronics prevented any known technology from spotting them, but there was always the outside chance that somebody might be looking right in their direction with a telescope. The outer skin of the ship could change color and had adopted a very dark blue hue that was difficult to see against the inky blackness of space, but the ship itself was not capable of becoming completely invisible. Wade even got Drakken to finally admit the cloaking device of his hover-lair had itself been stolen and all the plans for it were destroyed along with the lair itself. Wade's own holographic stealth technology could make the ship look like an airplane, but he had not been able to make something that large appear invisible like his later series Wade-bots.
All in all, however, they left the planet uneventfully. Within hours they had already settled into a sort of routine.
Sherry and Drakken had both been in space before, though only in near-Earth orbit. They both quickly became bored watching energy motes fly by in Hyperspace, looking all the world like the stars on the viewscreen of shows like Space Passage. She quickly claimed the corner of one of the couches in the main parlor while Drakken launched into a highly technical discussion with Wade.
Yori at first wished she could have some time to just talk with Wade, but quickly realized he was much more in his element talking to the former mad scientist. She was quite well educated, but she was certainly not on his level. Their journey was planned to take three days, so there would be plenty of time to speak to him. Much as she wanted to perhaps do a little more than talk, she would not. For one, he had so far only agreed to a first date with her at some future time. Any assumption that he was more than basically attracted to her was just that, an assumption and she would never make that kind of move on just an assumption. Then there was the fact that, by his customs, he was still a minor. Even the date itself would have to be by permission of his parents. That was simply the way she had been raised.
That didn't stop her from thinking about what kissing him might be like, and not just chaste pecks like she had given Stoppable-san on several occasions.
Instead, she found herself sitting in the forward observation lounge with Joss, basically engaging in 'girl-talk' but mostly staring outside at the wonder that was the universe.
"Okay, Folks" came Wades' voice over the intercom. "We're thirty minutes away from making our Telewarp jump. It's probably best if everyone is up here on the bridge and strapped in."
Minutes later all five of them were there getting ready. Theoretically the super-jump was safe, but it was known that most people experienced some mild distress, from nausea to blacking out following the jump. It was easier for them all to be together, in case anyone got in trouble.
Sherry was just finishing latching her harness when she noticed something. "Hey, the rest of you. Be quiet a second." Anger flashed in her eyes, which like the rest of her, had turned back to their natural color once she calmed down. "SHUT UP A SECOND!" She shouted at the other quartet.
That got them to be quiet for a few seconds at least. She strained her ears, trying to decide if she had heard what she did.
"What is it?" Wade asked, confused by the silence except for the distant hum of the drive.
"I don't know. I could have sworn I heard crying just then."
"Cryin'?" Joss asked. "You sure you didn't leave your soaps runnin' on the monitor downstairs?"
"That is not possible." Trin reported. "I shut down any unused monitor when a person leaves the room. All the monitors onboard, save those here on the bridge and those in engineering…wait."
"What is it, Trin?" Wade asked.
"Activating internal sensors." She said. "I'm reading the monitor in the master stateroom as being active."
"What? We haven't even gone in there." Sherry said, a little of her earlier pique rising again. She had been assigned, along with her husband, the smaller, secondary stateroom, while the rest of them took individual crew quarters. The master stateroom had gone unused. She argued that if nobody else was using it, at least the two of them could enjoy the space. Wade then told them in no uncertain terms that, until Amethyst was old enough to take ownership of the Trinity, that room was Kim and Ron's…period. Drakken almost launched into his trademark 'diffy dance' but once they saw just how much space the secondary room had, they both backed down. (Drakken actually was a little relieved when Sherry explained to him just why the main room belonged to his former teen foes.)
"Um. Folks." Trinity said. "I don't know how she got on board, but we have ourselves a stowaway."
Sherry's eyes shot open as she realized exactly what the avatar might have meant by 'she!' She punched out of her harness and was headed down the spiral stairs in a flash.
The sound became clearer as she approached the door. It had been locked, but knowing what the frantic mother was going to find, Trin unlocked it just before she reached it. She skidded to a halt just inside the door.
The crying had indeed come from the monitor. There was some kind of children's show playing, with a brightly colored creature of some sort making nonsense sounds that did indeed occasionally sound like a child alternately laughing and crying.
That wasn't what brought her up short. There, in the middle of the monster sized bed was a little girl with long, dark brown hair, wearing a purple and black jumper. She was curled up tight, holding one of the small throw pillows like it was a stuffed animal, sound asleep, though her cheeks were streaked with partially dried tears.
"Amethyst?" Sherry said in hushed whisper.
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