Chapter 30
At last.

Garagus had Celerave on the bridge, holding her by the ankles and gently wagging her little legs to the sides as she lay on the pelt laid floor giggling with a contagious laughter.

He and Rhuba found a good routine for her.
Make her laugh in any way they can for as long as they can, and then when she starts to look tired, let her sleep.
At the faintest sound of crying, Rhuba would feed her which so far has been mercy on the ears.

The only time this plan backfires is when Rhuba is asleep.
So many mornings she'd wake up to find Celerave had been placed next to her while Garagus scurries off.
She doesn't even sleep with a shirt anymore.
The opposite is equally true.
Some nights she'd sleep with her baby and wake up to find her missing by morning.

When Rhuba arrived on the bridge, Celerave immediately broke eye contact with Garagus to search for her mother's voice.
"just had to ruin the fun, hmm?"

"Well stop kidnapping my baby." Rhuba stepped over to her usual post to see how far they were from their next destination.

The search for a planet had been put on hold.
Rhuba thought her clothes-making skill would be adequate, but Celerave has been ripping the semes off every pelt dressing her mother makes.
The thought of her own mother kept coming back.
Cressin could make clothes. Fitted, strong, and practical for a baby Saiyan.

Celerave has been wrapped in a pelt roll with a belt keeping it together. It was that or letting the baby be naked every day. Rhuba could only imagine what Cressin would say if she saw her granddaughter now.
Speaking of.

"Is that my blanket?" Rhuba stared at Celerave snuggled up in the soft white pelt she'd had since before she could remember.

Garagus felt a chill as all the air in the room got sucked through Rhuba's teeth. "Now, before you get upset…"

"She looks adorable~" Rhuba picked the baby up and snuggled her. "you're the only one who gets to wear it but me, Celerave~"

"Well, it's only temporary anyway. Hopefully, we'll get some clothes at this next station."

"Do they come in her size?" Rhuba knew fabriate was used in Saiyan armour, but it's also a universal material for day-to-day clothing since it's durable while also stretchy.
Saiyans in particular would wear it nearly exclusively on the front line as even the Oozaru state wasn't enough to burst the material.

However, the 'one size fits all' usually refers in one direction. None of the fabriate on the ship was small enough for a baby to wear.

"I've been thinking, these stations need to be getting supplies in from planets. Maybe we should ask around? Primitive worlds are less threatening, but if the ship breaks down, we'd have a better chance at repairing it on a more advanced world."

"Decisions, decisions…" Rhuba rocked Celerave as she scrolled down the adverts flooding their inbox.
"How much money did we get from the GP?" Rhuba asked as her eyes fell on the Casino Token stuck above her screen.

"We got fairly compensated, considering how easy the job was."

"SHI-!" Rhuba screamed into Celerave as though she were a pillow. The fur muffled her obscenity, but Celerave burst out giggling from how ticklish it felt.

"Rhuba?" Garagus came over, checking the screen to see if she's read something bad. "What's wrong?"

"Idiot! Stupid, dumb, Idiot!"

Celerave started picking up on the tone and mumbled scared whines until Rhuba forced a smile and rocked her some more.
"Okay… I just remembered that I won a crap ton of credits playing those stupid slots, and I forgot to Cash Them!" Her teeth gritted together as she thought about how her friends were even playing those games.

The tokens had become worthless, but her account was still legally hers, probably. At the very least, she should have asked.

"That's no big deal." Garagus laughed, ruffling her hair. "So we lost a few credits."

"Actually it was over nine thousand…"

"Wha- NINE THOUSAND?" Garagus sighed in despair for what was coming. "Get your boobs out."

"What?" Rhuba demanded, just as Celerave started crying from all the yelling. "oh for the love of…" Taking the baby in her arms, she sat down grumbling to herself as the crying soon hushed. "In my defence, I didn't actually gamble… I found a token on the floor, just got lucky."

"That just makes it funny." Garagus smirked pressing a few buttons. "The real prize was getting this song."

"Don't you Dare!" Rhuba stood up just as the song started.

"Dance to the beat, Rhuba~"

"hate… all of it." Rhuba could feel Celerave getting a little angsty. If rocking calms her down, maybe the dance will help too. "I, I can't wave my hands while holding her…"

"That's okay, I got it." Garagus laughed, waving his hands together. "just shake those hips~"

"So gonna kill you~" Despite her threat, she did notice Celerave close her eyes as the motions lulled her calmly.

"Unknown Vessel, respond now!" Spoke the comms.

"aw…" Garagus sighed, turning in his seat while Rhuba sat at her old station. On Radar, he saw they were less than two minutes from crashing into a station. "Woah Geez!"

As the vessel slowed to follow the intergalactic laws for approaching stations, Rhuba again sucked all the air through her teeth.

"They say we're speeding. And if we don't slow down, they'll be forced to open fire." She didn't even sound upset. Just disappointed. "Confirm, we apologise for the scare. Our ship was recently upgraded and our helmsman is still learning the controls."

"Acknowledged. Are you looking to doc?"

"Affirmative."

"How many on board?"

"Two- Three! Sorry, We have three on board."

"Proceed to port 7, bay 6. And have a good day."

"Thank you…" Rhuba said with a cheerful smile that faded as soon as the link was broken. "Let's promise not to stay longer than a day this time."

"Agreed."

The space station was different to the last.
While the repair station had an open ceiling, holding in the air pressure with force fields, this one was closed off. A series of secured corridors and chambers that make up districts.

At port 7, special docking contraptions were built for ships with a ramp.
Once in place, a tunnel reaches out and pressure seals itself around the airlock.

"The GP have ships that can attach like that, too." Garagus mused as he and Rhuba changed into baggier clothes that would hide their tails. But he noticed Rhuba tie her hair back in a piece of fabric.
"What are you doing?"

"Being smart," Rhuba stated, handing him a cloth too. "Black hair, brown tails. The indicators of a Saiyan. But Celerave doesn't have clothes. If they need to measure her, how do we hide her tail?"

"oh…" Garagus hadn't thought that far. If it was just picking off the rack that would be one thing, but for the material they need it'll need to be custom made. "we can't do this."

"We let them see Celerave. Just Celerave. They'll assume we look like her if you and I cover our hair because of our culture."

Garagus looked down at their little baby.
Would silver hair and white fur be enough to hide the truth?
"Would anyone believe that culture story?"

"They did for me. I was the only one who got to wear a skirt at work, everyone else was in those tight body suits."

Garagus was unsure. But what other option was there?
Even if Rhuba allowed it, cutting the little one's tail off would leave a fresh wound.
It stops bleeding after a few minutes, but it'll raise more than eyebrows.
Suspicions would be through the roof.
They'd never peg them as Saiyans from it, but security would be notified.
Plus, it would be a crime to hurt Celerave.

Once dressed for entering the station, Rhuba wrapped Celerave up in some sheets and carried her on board, arms linked with Garagus.

From the outside, the station was a series of wide tubes and domes.
Inside, it looked like a street. No different from the business district on planet Vegeta.
Vendors were selling hot food to go and dried or frozen food to keep on the ship for long trips.
Others were selling accessories and furnishings for amenities while in space.
There were weapon traders selling certified blaster rifles.
Recruitment stalls for the Galactic Patrol.
Recruitment for experienced crew to chart new regions of space.
Stalls for information.
Stalls trying to garner interest in settling on planets that need colonisation.

The diverse faces of different species. Some were variations of the humanoid that one could see on any planet with a typical dominant race, though some were sporting scales, antenna, wings, even one large woman had an extra pair of arms as she served food behind her counter.

Despite so many people being in clusters of mixed crowds, you could tell who were acquaintances by their clothing.

Some were clearly in uniform from trade ships, security officers, or were either independent travellers or residents if their attire had the casual look to them.
To walk among them, the only oddity was very few wore headwear.
However, after a look or a glance, people were looking elsewhere, distracted by their own business to care much about others.

"This feels so strange…"

"Think there's a problem?" Garagus asked, scanning everyone's faces to determine if there could be a danger by being around them.

"No, just…" Rhuba's face was red, but she couldn't hide her smile. "When people looked at us before, they just saw us. When they look at us now, they see a family."

Without saying a word, Garagus' arm reached around her waist and pulled her close.
Amused by how something so obvious could make no impact until hearing the words out loud, then suddenly there's a shift in the air that couldn't be ignored.

"oh…" Leading her to an out-the-way place behind some storage boxes, Garagus needed to make sure they were on the same page about a few crucial details of their identities.
"What are we? If someone asks, we need an answer."

"We're Mind your own businesses from the planet Get lost." Rhuba laughed coyly while rocking Celerave. "Oh, what should we call her?"

"That was my second question." Garagus looked at her face.
Coming up with a fake name was going to be as hard as when they had to name her for real.

"Rave." Rhuba stated. "Rave, Gus, and Rhu."

"Okay then." At least it was easy to remember. "Oh, we're Yagons from the planet So… Sop…" His mind went blank.

"Sorpper?"

"Yes Exactly!"

"What were you thinking with those, by the way?"

"I panicked, I wanted a name that sounded alien."

Rhuba laughed to herself as she rejoined the crowds with Garagus following behind.
It took a while to find a shop for tailoring textiles made for custom orders.
But Rhuba was looking at the clothes for babies. They may not be made of the desired material, but it was clear off world stations plan ahead for the multitude of species that could be shopping.

The sections for infants were typically softer coloured, with simple patterns. The sort of thing most Saiyans wouldn't be caught dead in.

'Maybe that's just what she needs…' Rhuba thought as she lifted some clothes off the rack.
"What do you think-, Garagus?" Looking around the quiet shop, she couldn't place him. But when the realisation hit her, she covered her mouth in shock. But it seemed no one was paying attention.

Across the busy walkway from the textile shop, Garagus was chatting to GP officers about planets.
They weren't at all surprised that someone wanted a planet free from Freeza space as many people were fleeing for safety.

"A good number of planets have opened their systems to refugees. It's those near the boarder that have put a hold on them." The officer checked the data bases for available planets. "Can you fill out this form? Some are trying to put a lid on who comes in, it's a political mess right now."

Garagus sat and filled the datapad out.
There were checkboxes for some of the questions such as race having options like humanoid, insectoid, reptiloid, and so on.
Subcategories asked for such things as gravitational tolerance, oxygen dependency, UV resistance, as well as other factors.

But as a Saiyan, Garagus didn't know what to do.
As he stared at the form, taking glances at the officer looking at her screen and his own hand, he remembered Granate telling him how Saiyans were famously adaptable.

Novice foot soldiers would land on a new planet and spend a week lying low to adapt to the new environment. That was protocol.
But Saiyans were said to charge headlong into battle mere minutes after landing and go on to defeat native inhabitants on their home territory.
Other than the Ginyu Force, or the crew aboard Freeza's personal flagship, no one else were able to land and conquer with such ease.

While entering the basic information about himself and his family, Garagus noticed the data would autofill some questions based on the pattern of his answers.
The moment he chose humanoid, oxygen and water dependencies got a preset minimum level on the high end. Additionally, the max sodium level for the water got reduced severely.

As he filled it out, Garagus spotted something scary near the top of the page.
The word 'Saiyan' was written alongside some other species of known races.
He could have chosen Saiyan from the beginning to save time, but outing himself like that would make him denser than the core of a blackhole.

But even though he left it blank, his answers had been narrowing it down.
As the old analogy goes, if it waddles like a frog and squeaks like a frog, it's probably a frog.
"damnit…" He hissed, excusing himself when the officer asked if there was an issue.
Lowering the gravity tolerance was the easiest thing his family could adjust to and as he did, more race suggestions would pop up. Some of them he'd never heard of. All he had was silhouettes whenever he picked one.
But there was a risk.
What if he picks one, only for the officer to say; "but you don't have a vertical mouth," or if he has too few eyeballs, or "your skin isn't as turquoise as it should be."
Those and more could prove him a liar.

Sweating his answer, wondering how to play it, he suddenly spotted the words 'Prefer not to say'
Checking that option blanked the entire page for him to refill with his original answers, but at least he could be honest without being called out.

"Can I ask why this is necessary?"

"We don't want you getting crushed under your own weight, hiding from daylight, or poisoned by the water." The officer explained as she uploaded his answers to the database. "This just helps us find the safest worlds for you… oh…" She looked him up and down.

"oh? What oh?" Garagus asked.

"What's the oh?" Rhuba added, tapping his shoulder after looking for him all this time.

"Oh!" Noticing their matching headscarves, the officer gestured to the seat next to Garagus. "If you're together, you should be involved in this decision. We're just looking at planets. My name is Terelle, and you must be Rhu."

"Nice to meet you." Rhuba smiled, holding Celerave in her new baby clothes.

"Such a sweet baby~" Terelle leaned forward to see, wiggling her finger out for the little one to grab.

Gurgling, and reaching out with her hand, Celerave gripped Terelle's finger.
"Oh wow, she's got quite the grip…" Terelle pulled back a little harder, almost kneeling on the desk to get her finger back.

Rhuba was only too pleased and proud to show off her beautiful girl, but quickly stepped in to free the officer before things got out of hand.
"Sorry about that…"

"Not at all, I don't get to see children too much," She said in a friendly voice but a nervous smile before sitting back down to work. "There is a world that will fit your needs. It does have a history of hostility from the settlers towards the natives, but now under new management, that got dealt with."

"um…" Neither Rhuba nor Garagus liked the sound of that.

"Nothing to worry about. The last act of violence was twenty years ago and there are strict rules enforced to ensure the natives get priority over their land." Terelle smiled slightly. "In fact, my people settled there. And like most cities, we used to build out, spreading wide territories. But now, the largest city is building up, adding new surfaces on top of existing buildings. It's quite a sight. From the outside, the city looks like one huge stronghold, but really it's a layer cake with so many people living together."

"So there's no chance of us being away from the cities?" Rhuba asked. "We were hoping we'd be close enough to get supplies, but far enough to maintain some level of privacy."

"How many miles are you thinking?" Terelle's concern was regarding the reservation laws prohibiting building outside established territories. The only exception is single houses of a certain size, but they must be so far away from another house to prevent new towns from forming.
The world must be kept wild and natural as much as possible with some areas being so off-limits, that buildings and vehicles must not even be visible while standing in it.
But if it's one family wanting one house, then there may be wiggle room.

"A few hundred?" Garagus suggested.

"Oh that's easy. I'll give you a drive that uploads a program to your ship. It's updated regularly and tells you where you're allowed to settle. And if you want to be out of the way of others, I can promise that no one else will be allowed to settle within five miles of your immediate land."

"What about the natives?" Rhuba asked.

"Some are nomadic and travel by foot. You cannot refuse them to pass through or camp. It's their world, you just live there. That said, they'll probably do their best to avoid you." Terelle explained. "Plus, most are hermits living their hermit lifestyle in mountains or around shrines."

Apart from the shrines, it sounded almost like how Saiyans used to live.
That intrigued Rhuba.
"Sounds nice."

"I forgot to ask, did you come here as a passenger, or on your own ship?"

"We have our own, why?"

"Nothing to worry about." Terelle laced her fingers together. "Since you have your ship, it's free to be stationary and you can stay as long as you like. But to construct a permanent home, there's a price."

"Well, we can stay in the ship for as long as we need, but maybe someday we'd like a house…?" Rhuba sounded unsure. The ship is fine, but it might be a conversation for later.

"We don't have anything to do with that side of things here, I can just give you more information. If you want it."

Rhuba and Garagus stared at each other for a moment.
Rhuba had her apartment with Cressin back on Vegeta. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was in many ways a huge improvement from living in a literal hole in the ground, and in other ways, it was ironically more claustrophobic. But since living in the ship, a home might not be so bad.

"That's something we'll need to talk about later. I think we're just desperate to breathe non-recycled air."

"I get it." Terelle laughed as she downloaded the information to a drive along with coordinates to the system. "Zol Four, known to the locals as the Planet Dapume. Gus, Rhu, Rave. Have a good life~" With that, she slid the drive over to Garagus.

"Wait, is that it?"

"That's it for now. Like I say, you want a house. That's where things get tricky."

Drive in hand, Garagus struggled to process it.
All they had to do was go there.
Freeza space was behind them. A new planet was in sight with breathable air, drinkable water, a society that is neither at war with them or primitive.

"How far away are we from it?"

"Hmm…" Terelle looked like she was doing some serious maths in her head. "About a month."

"A month…?" Rhuba looked at her baby. In a month's time, she'll be home. "Gus, I have her clothes. Do we need food, fuel?"

"We have enough supplies for another year."

With staggered movements, the pair turned back to Terelle.
"Can we go now?"

"Yes you can go now." Terelle smiled, watching them dart from the office towards their ship.
Looking at their form once more, she let out a regretful sigh, holding her slightly bruised finger.
"To think after all these years, I would come face to face with real life Saiyans…"