We Need a Deathworlder!

“Whoa…” Nodrin utters as the group is brought to their table.

The spotless clear floor is a difficult thing for both the Gratt to ease to. The long perilous drop is incredibly daunting, even in the lower gravity. Though thankfully the two Gratt have a Terran to hold on to between them.

With each step they feared that there would be nothing solid to catch their feet.

“Maybe try not looking down?” Troy offers in suggestion, “Keep looking up and ahead?”

“But that’s not where the danger is…” Nodrin counters.

Simone is about to say that it’s perfectly safe, but the Zernth waiter beats her to the punch.

“I assure you, since the incident, our floors have been replaced with quadruple the thickness of material and we’ve installed emergency anti-grav fields that will prevent anyone from plummeting if the floor was to ever be compromised.”

The redhead can’t help but feel a bit guilty as the upgrades for something so mundane as a floor no doubt cost quite a bit, though considering the current business… that guilt quickly gets swept away.

Chak’s own mind is a bit distracted as well, as she stares at the very spot she fearfully hid behind an overturned table while her recently hired Terran defended her.

“This is where I asked you to ‘hurt them back’ on my behalf.” she chirps to Simone softly.

The redhead glances over at where the Cali is clearly looking, recalling her own memories from that day as well.

“Crazy…” she chuckles softly, “Now look at’cha. Esteemed warrior Princess.”

“With a gallantly gorgeous knight by her side.” Chak delightfully reminds as she refocuses on the here and now.

After they all sit down and bring up their menu screens the menus themselves are all already adjusted for each species present. Simone’s eyes go wide and she nudges Chak before pointing something out.

“Well that’s… a little morbid… but also rather funny.” she admits in a scandalous giggle.

Simone nods in amused agreement as she reads ‘Gravity Crustacean Chowder’, knowing exactly what she’s about to order for herself.

“Do you have any questions?” the waiter inquires as complimentary water is dished out.

“Ah… yeah, I know this place might be a bit ‘above’ to-go boxes, but I have a kid who couldn’t come and I’m hoping to bring something back for him too. Would that be alright?” Simone asks.

“That should not be a problem. However, would you prefer we do a direct delivery at a later time? The food will be much fresher in that case, though there will be a fee.” the waiter responds.

“That’s perfect, thank you! ” Chak answers with a bounce before pulling the ‘Watath’ specific menu close for Essjay to more easily see, “May the table have a round of sweet tisle kebabs as an appetizer?” she then asks. “And a tasting fish platter for our child here to see what they like most?”

“Of course. I’ll be back momentarily.” the waiter confirms before stepping away.

Then as the Gratt and Troy excitedly talk among themselves regarding the options they have interest in, Simone doesn’t pick up a word of it. Already knowing what she wants to order she keeps her eyes landed on her soon to be wife as the princess helps and encourages Essjay to read the larger and more complex words in the menu.

Again and again, Simone keeps finding herself unbelieving of how damn lucky she is. When in her lowest of lows, she never even imagined finding this kind of happiness and family. Granted it cost her quite a bit to acquire it, but she’s do it all again if it meant arriving at this point and time.

She figures that the ‘bad’ things that happen don’t necessarily have a ‘purpose’ behind them. That old saying; ‘Things happen for a reason’ doesn’t sit well with her, because the ‘reason’ is misplaced. People do things, that’s where the ‘reasons’ come from. But even if bad things occur without malicious actors behind them, everyone has a choice to still seek the next ‘good’ thing despite the negative circumstances.

That’s a self-given reason. One that Simone made many times after digging herself out of a pit she still can’t fully talk about yet.

And now upon reflection, all the good he’s managed to find outweighs all the bad. The scars still run deep, and she’ll carry that terrible weight for the rest of her days. She can’t fully be ‘fixed’ or even ‘repaired’ no matter how much she wishes she could be, but the patchwork that she allowed herself and others to place could hold back a lifetime of hurt and even drain some of it away to lessen the sting.

She achieved happiness, and the hill she has been climbing up is getting less steep by the day. Even if she trips every now and then, she’ll be okay.

And she'll stop at nothing to ensure that everyone she loves and cares for will be more than okay.

-

“Jamie?” Seven says as they watch the toddler slide off the bed and waddle out of the bedroom, seemingly bored of the currently playing cartoons.

Noticing the adventurous lad as well, Zrume huffs and plops herself down and trots after the child.

Joining the duo to form a bit of a comical trailing line, Seven rolls behind, curious to see what has sparked intrigue within Jamie.

The boy’s ear plumes twitches as he takes stock of who he can perceive on the ship. Immediately disappointed to not ‘see’ either parent, his sibling or even the green occasional playmates he slows his pace in a pout.

But before he can start to cry out, a large canine muzzle surprises him with attentive sniffing right in the kid’s face. Instead of crying Jamie lets out a laughing squeal and tries pushing the dog away as she starts to lick his fuzzy face without mercy.

Wrapping himself up with his wings in a giggling cocoon, the boy uses his tail to start dragging the rest of his body away to be free from Zrume’s kisses.

The dog follows him with her head tilted and nostrils flaring. Her posture was in ‘play’ mode, but she didn’t get any more physical with the toddler.

Seven watches this all occur, genuinely amused by the youth’s play with the dog and admires Zrume’s overall gentleness with him. It reminds the bot of Simone quite a bit in the sense of something physically intimidating and trained to be a fighter still being a total sweetheart.

From the bot’s background research of caring for the Terran-origin animal it became clear that the animals tend to be exceptionally well mannered if treated and trained well. Both seem to be the case for Zrume and her previous owners.

The whole history of how the Z’ah’tucks adopted the mammalian canine companions from the Union is a fascinating one to Seven.

After the initial warring with Terrans, the Z’ah’tuck admired the four legged beast’s prowess in not only conflict utility, but social companionship. War is a terrible thing, that is a fact, but even through that the Terrans still managed to gift their enemy a long term positive.

Throughout the many years the avian reptiles bred many their own breeds of dogs that have been very distinct from the Terrans. Although they did seem to keep around many of the original shepherding breeds.

Now that the Union and Z’ah’tuck packs are uniting under a federation, Seven can only imagine the possible social networking and integration the two peoples will share due to this particular admiration for such a special animal.

In a flap and scramble the Manarian toddler made a ‘run’ for it. Screeching out a laugh he rushes off straight for the stairs.

“Jamie!” Seven calls out revving their wheels to hurry after the fearless boy who is going way too fast towards the metal drop of steps.

But thankfully before he got too close Zrume blocked the way with the length of her body. Showing that she has some variant shepherd in her, she herded the squealing boy away from the stairs and railing and back into the other hallway.

Seven’s three cranial rights rotate in blinking as they are further impressed. Not only is the mutt aware of her own potential hazard she poses to the child, but also hyper aware of the environment's as well.

“Good girl, Zrume.” Seven praises as they roll on up beside the toddler and scoop him up to his squirming delight, “Though I think I know what-at he’s after. Jamie, do you request-est for a meal? Pizza perhaps?”

Jamie’s squirming shifts into excited wiggles.

“Pzzzzzzzaa!” he cheers.

“Well, you are going to have to wait-ait I’m afraid. Your mothers have informed me that they will be returning-ing with ‘fancy’ pizza for you. But, I suppose I can grant you some of your nutrient-ent broth. I’ll put some pepperoni chunks in it for you, just-ust don’t inform your parents.”

“Pzzzzzzaaaaaa!” Jamie cheers once more.

Seven then looks down at the dog.

“I’d offer you a stick of pepperoni, but the Net deems-ems it unsafe for your consumption. However, I’m certain-ain I can make you a fitting treat.” they inform pleasantly.

Immediately, Zrume’s tail begins to wag much more enthusiastically.

-

“Looks like that’s everything…” Simone says as she confirms the purchased items that couldn’t be easily transferred back through the station to be delivered directly to the Kwip-chap. Including the fancy food for Jamie.

Stepping out of a clothing store she goes over the ‘Terran child’ garb that she plans on modifying in the simple manner Troy has done previously.

Additionally she looks over some toys that Jamie might like, but the pickings are a bit slim. Especially for items that the bat-boy won’t tear to shreds.

Good thing they intend on going near Union space real soon.

“Excellent! First thing we’re going to do when we get back is decorate your room Essjay!” Chak chirps to the child on her shoulders.

Essjay skitters in a thrilled circle around the Cali’s neck, nearly causing her to fall over from the child’s current mass.

“Whoa, careful there kiddo. You’re made of more sturdy stuff than your Cali momma and you’re getting a bit too big for that.” Simone advises.

Essjay nods quickly and sinks down in apology.

“Ssssssoooorrie…” they utter to Chak’s immediate glee.

“Oh, goodness! Your speaking is getting so good! I forgive you darling, besides it won’t be long until I won’t be able to carry you like this at all. So I plan on enjoying it while I can.” the Cali replies.

In response the Watath rubs their head up against the fur under Chak’s jaw.

“Should we contact the others and get outta here?” Simone asks as she scratches at Essjay’s neck plates, “Or how about we talk a quick walk through that ‘park’ for old time’s-”

“Terran! Simone!” a familiar voice calls out both in pleasantry and urgency.

Turning to look, Simone smirks.

“Joe! Wondering if we’d run back into you while we were here!” she calls back as she waves to the approaching Thakmaw, “Lemme guess, we were reported again?”

“Yes actually, but not you two in particular… we have a Terran and two Gratt who claim to be with you.” Joe replies as he reaches a whip out and shakes the redhead’s hand.

Simone momentarily closes her eyes and lets out a sigh.

“Yep… what did they do?” she asks, preparing herself for something either dreadful or hilarious.

“Nothing worth outright arresting them over…” Joe initially assures, “But it was the Gratt by the name of ‘Nodrin’ attempted to openly trade some unknown questionable substances and was reported for either trying to sell something potentially illegal or vending certain substances without a permit.”

Simone raises her eye tufts knowing how serious this can become.

“Oh shit… right… uhm… yeah okay, see they are… fuck…” she muttered trying to explain the circumstances in a way that didn’t further sound condemning.

Chak whirls around the redhead to provide assistance.

“Hello Joe! It’s wonderful to see you again. I’m afraid there’s been a miscommunication on my part with my Gratt security team. As you may know, the Gratt are new to the stars. They have a wide span of medical cultural practices and Nodrin is indeed a subset of a medical practitioner to their people. Thus they have a habit of carrying their tools of the trade. Although they studied the laws of Central, it’s still a big cultural adjustment and misunderstandings are bound to occur. Since the Gratt are still under the ‘Uplifting’ laws I’ll pay for the fine of my mistake of not ensuring they were clearly made aware of substance law.” she says with an apologetic bounce.

Joe nods along before making a consideration.

“Understood. Like I said, no arrests were made. We’d normally confiscate what someone could be carrying, but under these circumstances… I hope it’s fair to have the three peacefully escorted back to your ship with a warning on record. No bans or fines necessary. Just be sure they’re made aware, and given the proper permits for future visits.” the peacekeeper informs.

Simone lets out a low sigh of relief as Chak bounces gratefully.

“That is more than acceptable. Thank you, Joe.” the princess says.

“Last thing Kamoi needs is another potential diplomatic nightmare.” the Thakmaw chuckles knowingly, “Glad we can work something out before another floor gets shattered.”

“Agreed…” Simone replies with her smirk returning, “So… if you don’t mind me asking, what happened with that recent domestic terrorism stuff?” she inquires.

Joe’s demeanor shifts into that of deep retrospective disturbance.

“Philan Treea… that runt of a Scaff…” he growls, “He got it in his mind that Deathworlders -especially those who are serving as peacekeepers here- were planning to take over the Station or some nonsense… It was like his already cracked mind completely folded inside out. His rants on his news network quickly fell into insane ramblings and calls to violence. Just before we managed to rest him he bombed a peacekeeper precinct. No one was hurt, thank the stars, but he did attack a pal of mine that arrested him. There’s still an ongoing investigation as to why he fell off the deep end, but there’s little to go on after he torched his own home and erased his digital footprint with what we assume was an A.I. of some sort. But that’s for the most part speculation, and I’m afraid I can’t share much more than that.”

“Damn… hope everything is recovering well since?” Simone says.

“Folks are jumpy and keeping us extra busy, but yes recovery has been going smoothly. Might have been a bit of a different story if people died.” Joe replies.

“About that… how did no one get hurt from the bombing? Sheer luck?” the redhead questions.

“Partially, but the bomb was primarily set in the security monitoring system hardware room. Unless a tech or janitor wandered in at the time of the explosion it probably wouldn't have hurt anyone regardless.” the Thakmaw answers.

“Wait… so he didn’t target the Deathworlders he was so afraid of? Why would he go for the monitoring?” Chak asks.

“As I said, we are still investigating. It’s clear he was covering the actions of something or someone else, but we have yet to uncover what that could have been. Hopefully, his deluded ‘stage 2’ of his plan couldn’t come to fruition because of how swiftly we napped him. But we’re not banking on that. Hopefully the Central interrogation teams will have more luck getting information out of him. Until then we tread lightly and diligently seek what this was all about.” Joe replies with a tired huff.

“I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it. I doubt there’s much we can do to help, but if we by chance come across or uncover anything related we’ll be certain to let you know as soon as possible.” Chak promises.

“We’ll take what we can get. Speaking of which, I should get back on the job. I’ll have your associates escorted to your ship. Have pleasant travels and may the stars guide you. Though from what I’ve seen from Central news, they have been.” Joe farewells with a nod of his massive bear-like head.

“There’s been ups and downs, but thanks. You too.” Simone nods back.

“Goodbye Joe, thank you.” Chak bounces before watching the peacekeeper continue on to his next task.

“Alright, let’s go home.” Simone sighs as she wraps an arm around Chak, now noticing all the amount of eyes curiously watching on while the scary Terran spoke with the peacekeeper.

-

“Hey, there’s our local drug dealer!” Simone teases endearingly as she, Chak and Essjay arrive aboard the Kwip-chap.

The already embarrassed Gratt scratches the back of their head.

“I apologize for my mistake. I will be mindful-er more mindful in the future.” Nodrin says as Meeki tenderly hugs them at their side.

“It is on us for not warning you first, Nodrin. We apologize as well. Thankfully no trouble came of it and we all have learned from the experience.” Chak replies before an excited Essjay taps her shoulder while upon it, “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll stay true to my word.” she assures the child, “Meeki, Nodrin, Troy, can you please help us move Essjays new things to their room? Also Jamie’s new things to our room?” she requests.

Patting Nodrin on the back Troy gave a salute.

“You got it!” he says before guiding the Gratt to the delivered boxes.

Holding the delivered food for Jamie, Simone starts to walk the other direction towards the front of the ship.

“I’ll join up after Jamie eats. Seven says the kiddo is already done with his broth so it shouldn't be too long.” she informs Chak and Essjay before hurrying off to the mess hall.

Upon entering, Jamie is already giddy and moving to the door having heard her arrival. Zrume is present as well simply watching on as she lays next to a recently emptied bowl that once upon a time held cubed cooked steak.

“Heya kiddo! Got some pizza for ya!” she giggles as she picks up the boy with a free arm and takes him back to the table he clearly left, “They questioned me like four times if I was sure about the amount of garlic on it.” She informs the distracted lad, who was putting all of his attention to the sealed rectangular box in his parent’s hand.

“Pzza!?” he says.

“Yep! But what do you say?” Simone asks as she sets the boy down in his seat.

“Plllllleeeeeeeeezzzz?” Jamie replies, although not all that confident.

“That’s right! Thank you, kiddo.” the redhead says genuinely glad to see him recall the polite asking word, “Oh, and I got another thing for you to try. I think you’re gonna like it!” she says as she opens the box to the boy’s further giddiness.

The personal sized premium pizza wafts garlically steam as it meets the air of the mess hall. Jamie’s narrow pupils widen at the smell alone, but before he can dig in Simone picks up a slice of grilled and seasoned avian meat and dunks it into a thick grated green substance.

“Try this, kiddo.” Simone encourages as she brings it to the boy's fanged mouth.

Not protesting one bit, Jamie accepts it and starts to chew. On his inhales his plumes suddenly poof ever so slightly as his eyes open wide as though processing the intense sensations. After he swallows she sharply inhales and sneezes causing his plumes to actually poof out with a vengeance.

“Good?” Simone laughs as the kid wipes his face with one hand and reaches for more with the other, “Authentic wasabi. Well, as authentic as it gets.” she informs with a big smile.

“Wasssaby…” the boy recognizes having tried and enjoyed the imitation version.

“That’s right! Go nuts kiddo, consider it my apology for having to leave ya here.” the Terran says as she plants a hand on the back of the boy’s head while he starts to eat by himself.

Simone watches him for a bit, petting his head fur lovingly while delving deep in thought. She knows hiding him from the universe for the time being is important for not only his safety, but everyones, there’s no telling what would happen if knowledge about him leaked out. Maybe nothing, maybe crazed galactic panic.

And yet… keeping him locked away wasn’t a good thing either. The poor kid needs more than just this ship, especially if he’s gonna have to learn social skills that will be all the more important later in his life.

His species seldom experiences fear, but that just means his survival instinct overall will be blunted. He needs to know how people act and how to properly interact with others outside the friends and family on this ship.

Simone leans down and kisses the boy’s head.

She wishes she could just erase the encoding from the entire galaxy, making it a far easier place for Jamie to live in. Yet such a task is far out of her capabilities, let alone anyone she knows.

Anyone… she… knows…

Standing straight up, Simone gets an idea.

Sharra.

She’d know how to render the encoding inert if such a thing is possible! And the redhead has all of -albeit scrambled- Sharra in her own mind! How has she not thought of this yet?

Seven then rolls out of the kitchen.

“Greetings Simone. How was your-our shopping trip?” they inquire.

“Went great.” the Terran replies as she starts to bite her cheek, “Thanks for sitting for Jamie.”

“Of course. Something the matter?” Seven asks.

“Just… thinking about a really stupid idea… thankfully I’d need Vermis for it so I can’t act on it. But it’s something I think I ought to try.” the redhead answers.

“Be cautious, whatever you are planning-ing you should consult Dave first.” Seven warns.

“Oh, I definitely will. And I’ll give Chak an opportunity to talk me out of it.” Simone assures before patting a content Jamie on his back, “Everything go well enough here?”

“Indeed. In fact Zrume has proven to be a suitable-ble sitter in her own right. Her capabilities and understanding of watching-ing over a child is to be commended. However I’m doubtful she can operate-ate anything within the kitchen, let alone prepare a pizza from-rom scratch. So I still have an important function-ion for watching over Jamie.” the bot responds.

“Awww… that explains the smell of steak, huh…” Simone says as she leans down and rubs the dog’s belly.

“Indeed a well earned reward.” Seven confirms, “Will I need to remain-ain and watch over Jamie for the wedding?” they then ask suddenly.

Simone purses her lips as she slowly straightens herself back up.

“Aren't you helping with catering though?” she asks.

“Indeed. But someone will be required to watch Jamie during-ing the main ceremony. And I’d rather not have someone-one else miss out on the experience of attending.” the bot points out.

“Well that will be no good… We want you there just as much as anyone else.” Simone says before thinking over a possible solution.

“I’m afraid there’s not many-any other options. Perhaps I can watch a broadcast-ast feed with Jamie?” they propose.

It’s a reasonable idea, but it makes Simone’s heart sink all the more.

But something else does come to mind.

“I got another crazy Idea… ever seen the ancient Terran movie E.T?” she asks.

“One moment.” Seven says before their cranial light rotating in a blink as they look it up on the Net and watch the entire thing sped up, “I have now… and despite the residual-ual feelings of bittersweet sadness and fulfillment, I’m doubtful-ful a white bed sheet over Jamie will be effective-ive or subtle…”

“We just have to get clever with the ‘sheet’. Be right back I’m gonna need to ask around for a few favors from everyone.” Simone replies as she activates her Lens and Comm.

“So you need to ‘phone home’?” Seven quips.

The redhead gives a proud glance towards the bot before stepping out of the mess hall.