Chapter 26: Trip
Location: Government House
Later that morning…
"Blast! I never meant to sleep till nearly twelve," Sally said as she emerged from her room, "And why didn't you wake me, NICOLE!?"
"You never asked me to," she stated, "You also in need of the rest."
There was no denying it, especially since she hadn't been sleeping well since arriving within the Terran Republic.
"Well, there's no point in worrying about it now."
Heading down the staircase, she found Wyn busy watering some of the indoor plants as soon as she reached the ground floor of the estate.
"Ah, good morning, Your Highness," he greeted cheerfully.
"Good morning, Mr. Eastaughffe. Do you know where everyone is?"
"The Prime Minister in his office meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources, several of your friends headed into town, but Mr. Prower and Mrs. D'Coolette, Miss. Badger, and young Mr. Thorndyke are currently still on the premises."
"Do you know where I can find them?"
"Mr. Prower is currently in the archives and Mrs. D'Coolette is currently by the pool with Mrs. Carmichael," Wyn explained, "Miss. Badger is..."
"Say no more," Sally said, raising her hand.
"Mr. Thorndyke was feeling unwell earlier and is somewhere on the premises."
"Thank you for the information."
"My pleasure."
Sally emerged from the Prime Minister's home and found Bunnie and Miranda sitting by the in-ground pool. Dripping wet, Leon ran about along the circumference of the pool, pursued by a younger boy with dark hair. Swimming had apparently been a spur of the moment thing for them, as neither had on bathing suits, having instead stripped themselves down to their briefs.
"Mornin', Sally-girl," Bunnie greeted.
"You're up late today," Mrs. Carmichael said.
"NICOLE said I needed the rest," she replied, "No point at burning the candles at both ends. Who's the kid?"
"Oh, that's Colin Phash; the son of my husband's Minister of Natural Resources."
"So, what are your plans for the day Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.
"Actually, that why I'm here, last night NICOLE received a message from our benefactor, he wants to formally meet, except he's allowing me to bring four others with me," Sally said.
"And with Sugah-hog and the others out on the town me, Tails, Chris, and Sticks are your only choices," Bunnie stated.
"I was going to discuss it with all of you, but it seems that decision has been made for me."
"You can always wait for the others to return," Miranda suggested.
"While this isn't time sensitive, I'd rather get this over with. You interested?"
"Sho," the Cyborg said as she stood up, "Ah been wantin' ta see the sites outside the city."
"Great," Sally replied, "Let's go find Tails."
"I'll let the others know where you've headed off to," Mrs. Carmichael offered.
"That'd be great, thank you."
Several minutes later Sally and Bunnie arrived at a large room that contained rows upon rows of shelves that contained several hard cover books, but the selection was small compared to the vast quantity of electronic Digi-tomes and filmbooks that were present. Several of the books were even locked up due to their delicate state but everything was available for viewing in digital format.
"Wow! The Grand Archive back home ain't got this many books," Bunnie commented.
"Carmichael said that one of the vaults that the early Terrans uncovered contained a large collection of Human knowledge, so not only do they have all of their own history, but Humanity's collective history as well," Sally explained.
As the two Mobians continued through the library they found Tails seated at a table reading, a stack of books piled atop it. The fox was currently reading one of the Digi-tomes, not even bothering to look up when they approached.
"Morning Aunt Sally, morning Aunt Bunnie."
"Mornin', whacha readin'?" Bunnie asked.
"A history book," Tails replied, "Did you know the Humans had three Roman Empires?"
"The first, the second, and the third?" Sally questioned.
"The Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire. Which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
"Are you even going to be able to read all of these?" Sally questioned.
"I donno, but I can try," he stated, relishing the opportunity.
Bunnie happened to grab one of the books from the pile out of curiosity, taking a moment to study the name on the cover: The Kama Sutra.
"Uh...Tails, this isn't a book for kids," Bunnie stated, showing him the book in question.
"It's not?"
"Sugar-Twan and ah saw a book like this in a bookstore we visited, it's some sort of sex manual," she informed.
"Ew! What's that even doing in here?"
"That's something we should probably bring to the attention of one of the staff members," Sally stated.
"Was there something you needed?" the Fox inquired.
"We need the X-Tornado," Sally said, remembering the reason they had sought out the Fox, "I received a message from our benefactor, and he wants to meet."
"Alright, Aunt Sally, I'll go get the X-Tornado ready."
"We'll go find Chris and Sticks and meet you outside."
"Why Sticks exactly?"
"A little time away from here will do her some good," Sally replied, "Might just keep her from chewing the electrical wires."
"Alright, I'll meet you outside."