"I've been called many things, but so help me, 'polite' will never be one of them". - Cayde-6
The Tower's hanger proved to be underwhelming. It's sheer scale was impressive, yes, but the whole space just felt so empty. Utterly devoid of character. Rows of colorful jumpships were docked along the back of Bay 16, awaiting their owners' return - presumably Guardians with business at the Tower. Unmarked crates and refueling canisters were piled up here and there. A solitary bot stood, sweeping idly near the gangway leading to Bay 17. At least Amanda Holiday has someone trying to keep it clean around here, Meren thought to herself. The artificial overhead lighting flickered as she set her bags next to a docked Arcadia-class jumpship.
She had barely slept last night. With such short notice there had been little time to pack. Not to mention the hour she wasted rifling through old academic notes. This is important, she had convinced herself. Somehow she still managed to arrive before the pilot.
A message had come through that morning detailing the time and place where she was to meet her escort. Bay 16 North, slip AEX73. There hadn't been mention of who would be accompanying her, but as soon as she saw the markings on the black and blue craft she knew. The Queen of Hearts.
Meren breathed a sigh to herself. She had hoped to get some reading done on this trip. The journey past Mars to the Vestian Outpost wouldn't take more than a couple of hours, but Meren had a suspicion that this trip was going to feel much longer.
"Look who it is! My favorite professor!" Cayde-6's voice practically echoed through the hanger.
He was always just so loud. Meren closed her eyes in annoyance, beseeching the gods for patience before turning to face him.
"I never was a very good student," he sidled up next to her.
"Cayde."
"Maybe if I hadn't slept during class so much-"
"Cayde."
What she really wanted to say was I hope your voice modulator malfunctions, but she stuck to repeating his name. She and the Hunter Vanguard had been acquainted for years. Partially through social events at the Academy and more recently through her consulting work with the Vanguard. She had a very vivid memory of throwing a data pad across the table at him after he interjected the words "fightey and bitey" as an Eliksni descriptor in the middle of a briefing she was so painstakingly trying to deliver to the Commanders. Despite their past disagreements, she didn't actively dislike him - she just could only tolerate so much of him at a time.
Cayde had stopped speaking the second time she uttered his name. "It's good to see you again," she offered.
His eyes expressed something akin to fondness at her words, "You too, Meren." After a momentary pause, he exclaimed, "Let's get this show on the road!"
The Exo wasn't completely without manners, and he stooped to pick up the largest piece of her luggage without further preamble. It was heavy, but he hefted it easily. "What's in here? Rocks?"
"Books." Meren picked up the second piece of baggage herself.
"You know we have technology now, right? Useful stuff," he loaded the bag into the Queen of Hearts' aft storage compartment.
"Books still have their place," she couldn't help but smile in amusement, "and today that place is in my bag." She handed him the second suitcase.
Once everything was packed away and Cayde was doing a self-declared "perimeter check", Meren took one, last look around the Hanger. Several Guardians had come and gone while she and Cayde had been loading her things. She wondered when she would be back. Shit, she thought suddenly, ramen with Hiro. It had been just yesterday that she had met with the Speaker and she hadn't even bothered to send her closest colleague a message about her trip. There would be time later. Cayde had returned from his survey.
"So, she's a little cramped for space in there, but you can sit on my lap," the Exo beamed.
Meren couldn't tell if he was joking, "Absolutely not."
"Relax, Professor. It was a joke. There's an extra seat in the back."
It took a moment for Meren to get herself secured behind the pilot's seat. Too many buckles and snaps on the harness. By the time she figured it out the Tower had granted flight clearance and they were off.
Rising above the clouds, the Queen of Hearts' engine purred quietly. Cayde was busy programming their heading into the nav computer. He was blessedly silent as he tapped away at the display. Meren had never considered herself to be comfortable with interplanetary travel. She had been to Mars maybe twice, and the Moon just once. Somehow, even with Cayde at the helm, she didn't feel nervous today.
Meren looked out through the canopy at the endless stars. She found herself thinking of the Eliksni, homeless, traveling light-years through the same sea of stars to find their Great Machine.
The Arcadia-class jumpship had exited the Earth's atmosphere before Cayde spoke again. "Got big plans for the Reef?"
Meren considered her answer before speaking, "Not really plans, per se. Just observation. Research."
"Do you ever do anything, you know, fun?"
"Academia is fun."
"Huh." He paused. "I always just assumed your whole obsession with the Fallen was, like, a sex thing."
"No," Meren snapped firmly. Five minutes into their trip and Cayde was already being wildly inappropriate. She would have been less surprised if he had led with a quip about Brelor losing his head.
Cayde hastily veered the conversation into safer waters without missing a beat, "You're gonna want to meet Variks."
Meren didn't answer for a long moment out of annoyance. "That's the plan," she replied finally. After the Speaker mentioned Variks the other day, she had gone home and dug through all her notes. She had heard the name before. Somewhere. After a good hour of searching, she found it. Her notes stated that she had heard about him from Itrik, who was locked up under the Tower. He had heard it from a Captain of House Kings who heard it from a Baroness of House Devils that Variks was a traitor. Third hand information.
She knew nothing.
"He's not like the others," Cayde continued, "not as fightey and bitey. Great guy."
If she could see his eyes, she knew they would be smiling. He said it out of irony, this time, an acknowledgement of their past disagreements.
"What are your plans?" Meren asked him, "If I know you at all, you won't be in a rush to get back to the Tower."
"Bounty hunting. The Queen's Wrath is offering good money for any Wolves returned to the Prison."
"Interesting." Where there were bounties, Meren knew there would be Guardians. She wasn't looking forward to that. The only thing she was looking forward to was the chance at interacting face-to-face with the Eliksni.
"Autopilot engaged," the ship's nav computer chimed.
"Sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight. Courtesy of Vanguard Air." Cayde quipped.
Their conversation was over as far as Meren was concerned. Not unless he had something actually useful to say. She very much doubted that would be the case.
Reaching into her satchel, she retrieved her datapad. "I'd like to read, Cayde."
"Quiet time. Got it." Cayde didn't argue for once.
The device in her hand came out of standby and the screen flashed to life. Meren navigated to what she had been working on last night, and she settled herself in for a read.
Her earlier suspicions were almost immediately confirmed. It wasn't five minutes before the Exo started singing to himself.
This was going to be a long trip.
The Queen of Hearts touched down in the hanger at the Vestian Outpost. It served as a gateway to the rest of the Awoken's realm - the Reef. The Outpost itself was built into the hollowed-out hull of an old Eliksni ketch. It had been tethered together to rocks and other space debris in the heart of the asteroid field. The whole of the Reef was a tangled web of Golden Age space junk and orbiting planetoids. I should have brought my text on interplanetary geology, Meren thought offhand.
Cayde opened the ship's cockpit to the outside. Meren experienced a moment of panic before she remembered that Awoken engineers had spent decades creating an artificial atmosphere that encapsulated the majority of the Reef. Pushing herself up and out of the cockpit, solid ground felt like a blessing.
As she came around the ship, following Cayde, Meren didn't have even a moment to take it all in. The Awoken were already here.
"Heads up. Queen's Wrath," Cayde's comment was all the warning she got as he went to unload the aft compartment.
Of all the intimidating women Meren had ever met, Petra Venj had to be somewhere at the top. She was dressed all in purple armor, a sharpened dagger at her side. Her hair was swept to the side, covering where her left eye should have been. Meren found that she suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands.
Two members of the Awoken Royal Guard flanked the Queen's Wrath. They were equally resplendent, but their eyes were covered. It was unnerving.
"Cayde-6," Petra's cool voice broke the silence.
"Hiya," the Exo replied from somewhere far behind Meren.
"And you," her gaze fixed on the human, "you must be Meren Hale."
Petra was sizing her up, the professor could tell. Luckily for her, of all the things Meren had been called, "threatening" was not one of them. Wearing only a dark mantle over her tunic and pants, she looked unremarkable. It wouldn't have come as a surprise if Petra had tried to frisk her, but the assault never came.
"You must have connections to some powerful people to get yourself an invitation to the Reef, human."
Meren wasn't sure if she should be insulted or not. "I like to think I do." A lame reply.
Petra hummed in response.
There was no time to ask questions before the Queen's Wrath started laying the ground rules. The Awoken woman didn't seem to be one for small talk. Petra and Meren would get along just fine.
"The Guardians aren't allowed much past the Vestian Outpost. You, on the other hand, have the Queen's blessing to roam as you like. You're welcome anywhere but the Dreaming City," Petra explained.
It was more than Meren expected.
"You'll be required to have a chaperone, of course, so you will be assigned one on a daily basis. I guess Variks could count, technically," she trailed off for a moment, "You're the only human here legally. Remember that."
Only one here legally? What was that supposed to mean?
"You are our guest. Should you need anything at all," Petra sighed, "don't hesitate to ask." She crossed her arms, then, and shifted her weight to her left hip, "Any questions?"
"No," Meren responded politely, "I am grateful for the Awoken's hospitality."
Petra gave Meren a tight-lipped smile and nodded.
"Great talk, everyone!" Cayde was suddenly standing right there giving her a thumbs up. Petra eyed him incredulously. "Say, can I get some fuel for my ship?"
If Petra's patience was wearing thin, she didn't show it. She gestured and one of her guards went off, presumably to fulfil Cayde's request.
It was time to go. Meren turned and thanked the Hunter Vanguard for the ride. She hoped it would be a while before she was trapped in a cockpit with him again. Preferably never.
As Meren turned to follow the Queen's Wrath, Cayde just had to get the last word in.
"What? No tip for your driver?" he shouted after them.
