Page 24 of Golden Darkness
He held his hand out to her, and she took it. They left for dinner.
They were a few steps down the hall when she noticed she was wearing more black and gold. Different black and gold. “So, when did you redress me?”
“About forty minutes ago. Your body is recovering nicely. Your curves overpowered your other gown. It was necessary to craft something special for you that will still allow for ease of moment.”
She stopped in her tracks and pulled the neckline of the gown away. In her clothing was a bra band and a lot of chalky skin, but the cleavage was impressive. She was nearing normal.
“I can activate mirrors in our quarters if you want to look at yourself. I think I might anyway.”
She swallowed. “Why?” She knew why a human would do it, but she wanted confirmation.
“Because this time, you are going to be on me and ease as far as you can. You will be in control. Well, sort of.”
She looked around. “We aren’t going to the dining room.”
“No, we are going to have dinner with the captain. He has been updating the information stream and is going to give me a status report while you and he eat dinner.”
Janessa blinked. “Oh. Um, okay.”
He smiled, and they continued walking. She bounced a little when she took a step, and her chest responded to the restraint. It was more comfortable than swaying. Huh, there actually was underwear in space.
They went down the hall and stood in front of the door with the rank insignia. The door opened, and the captain greeted them with a grin. It was the captain’s dining hall.
Away from the formality of the command deck, Neebath was charming, chatty, and had a flair for entertaining.
Janessa participated when she could, but the food was really good, and she spent her time stuffing her face. She ate until her stomach groaned, and it was just because the food was so damned good.
She sat back when her plate was empty. Neebath looked at her with astonishment. “That is quite impressive, Miss Yahn-eth-etha.”
She smiled.
Neebath finally said something she could clearly follow. “So, we have been declared raiders.”
Kethen paused. “What?”
Janessa perked up. “Ohh.”
“The Vel-ech did a number of things using Kethen’s name to gain access to space stations and delivery points. We are going to have to return what they stole or the financial value of the lost and pilfered items. There is a list.”
Janessa perked up. “We are pirates?”
Kethen shook his head. “Accused of raiding. There is a difference.”
Neebath stated, “Right now, there is a bounty on this ship and crew.”
“Oh, shit.”
Kethen sighed. “I can communicate with most of the communities and make agreements for reparations. Those that demand their missing items back will be visited, and either the item returned or in-person negotiations will be more effective.”
She paused. “Do you have confirmation of possession?”
Neebath shrugged. “We don’t know what half of the items are, including some items that were taken from the latest world. They stole an archive shipment.”
Janessa cocked her head. “What’s an archive shipment?”
Kethen growled, “When worlds like yours are coming to an end, the education station sends out probes and downloads all information before the satellites degrade. They also land on the surface and find any large repositories, uploading the same information. It is then collated and sorted by language and media type.”
Neebath nodded. “It is put into labelled data crystals and sold to the worlds who take on the people of origin as colonists. Getting their histories, music, and entertainment has been a tremendous emotional lift for those who have lost their home.”