Alex had left his Tsla’o phone back on the carrier, and had to pop out to have his escort give the shuttle a ring. Specialist Amalu was nowhere to be found, though he quickly revealed himself. He had moved to a small alcove just up the hall, out of the way but with a clear line of sight on the door, adaptive camouflage turning him into a roughly Tsla'o-shaped blob against the decorative treeline adoring the wall. Their radio still worked, and he called to have Carbon come down. Not long after, there were two soldiers posted in the alcove outside his parents' home.
When Carbon arrived there had been hugging and crying and it hadn’t taken Peter or Alex’s father very long to abandon ship. Alex stayed around until the discussion turned to what kind of rings they should be getting - and while they were on the subject of wedding related things, where they would be going for the honeymoon?
His mother had plenty of opinions on both of those subjects, and really seemed to want to get into the weeds in regards to how the Tsla’o viewed precious metals, gemstones, and jewelry in general, and Carbon was very interested in hearing what Audrey had to say. Alex excused himself to go catch up with Peter.
“So, how’ve things been going with you?” He slid the door to the patio closed and stood next to his brother at the railing, looking out over the bay with him. Everybody said the family resemblance was strong between them, and Alex had a hard time disagreeing. The dark hair and tanned skin both speak highly of it. Even if Peter kept his hair longer, like he was on the cover of a romance novel. “I feel like I’ve been monopolizing the conversation since I got here.”
“You have, but at least you have a good reason for it.” He smirked and laughed. “I can’t complain. Wife loves me, the kid is doing great, still enjoy my work.”
Alex leaning on the rail, the air clear today. San Francisco North and South both clearly visible across the bay. “Yeah? How is the architecture business these days?”
“Remember when you asked me that before you left?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“It’s the same as it was then. Well, the boss has been talking about trying to break into space stations lately. There are a lot of similarities between a station and an arcology, don’t get me wrong.” He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, sounding somewhat resigned to it already.
Peter loved to talk about his work when the opportunity arose and Alex was inclined to indulge him. Alex didn’t usually understand what he was talking about when he dove into the finer points, but still found it interesting. Doubly so now that they were talking about space stations. “I think I hear a ‘but’ in there.”
“Oh yes, you do. Gaspari wants us to go in for a big contract - New Vegas sized, over in Proxima. If they wanted an Arc on the ground, we’d be a top contender. But! We’ve never done a zero-g structure before. We have no personnel who are familiar with the building requirements, the permitting... the things I don’t even know about, that go into a space station.” He was starting to gesture out to the blue-green waters of San Francisco Bay, getting more emphatic as he spoke, his face flushed against the cool breeze. “He wants us to burn up thousands of man hours to get a prelim ready for the first round of bidding in three months. I know we can do it, I just don’t think we should.”
“Damn. I’m guessing you tried to talk some sense into him?” Alex tilted his head to watch his brother, eyebrow raised.
“Tried. He wasn’t having any of it, though. Dead set on getting into stations. Thinks we can ‘bring an innovative look to the stale affair of space living’ or some garbage.” Peter had never been fond of anything that sounded like marketing, despite his job needing someone to market their expertise.
“I bet you could. Can the company deal with that falling through?”
“Yeah, I checked with the CFO. We could not make a cent for a few years before we’d have to think about laying people off. He said Gaspari has actually been wanting to do space stations for forever and built up a nice buffer of money before he tried.”
Alex shrugged. “That’s actually pretty responsible. Why so mad, then?”
“I’ve been working there for eight years and I had never heard a word about this until a month ago. Lots of talk about how we’re like a family, but big plans like this are kept secret.” He shrugged again. “It just feels duplicitous.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want to get his own hopes up ahead of time.”
“Knowing him, probably.” Peter sighed and laced his fingers together. “Saying all this out loud makes it seem less consequential.”
“I always was good at putting your life into perspective.” Alex smiled and patted his shoulder.
The smirk returned with a sharp laugh. “You were always good at being a pain in the ass.”
“Same thing, really.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Peter turned to face him and jerked his head towards the living room. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but... You really are good with her? You’re not just saying that in front of mom and dad? Like, there’s not some ulterior motive going on?”
Alex looked over at him, lips pursed and eyebrows drawn tight. “Yes, I really am.”
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He held up a hand with a grin. “Hey, I’m just making sure. I can look out for my brother sometimes. So... Everything is good between you two? You’ve been back like two weeks, that’s fast as hell to get into a marriage. You didn’t even date your first girlfriend for two weeks.”
“It was three weeks. And yeah, things are good between us. I wasn’t kidding when I said we’re a good fit. Absolutely had a rough start, but she’s smart, kind, a little sarcastic... I think that’s who I need in my life. You know about my problem.” Peter had been the first person he’d told about why he washed out of the Civilian Pilot Program the first time, and after he got done laughing, had commiserated with him and talked him through that depression in his life. “She’s like a counterbalance to that. Very grounded, but without grounding me. If that makes any sense.”
“Shit, ok. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something like that about anybody, so that’s pretty damn serious. Are Humans and them even, y’know, compatible?” Peter gestured with both hands to make it clear what he meant by that.
“Yeah, the deely-bobbers work on Humans, we just don’t have the same level of interaction since we don’t have our own.” He ignored Pete’s intended question there, managing to maintain a neutral expression as he watched a sailboat out in the bay.
“Those do something? They’re not just for show?” He actually sounded surprised by that, standing up a little straighter and casting a worried glance inside.
“Yeah man, they’re all contact mind readers.” Alex almost added that they usually ask first, but that would open up more things he didn’t really want to discuss. “Well... It’s more like full duplex mind-sharing. If someone’s in there, it’s like an open comm channel. Fairly personal experience for them, as well. They don’t just run around linking with everybody.”
“I’ll be damned.” Peter relaxed, elbow back on the rail. “But for real- you’re fine? There’s not going to be like... problems between you two?”
He rolled his eyes. Of all the topics he didn’t want to discuss with his family, this was actually pretty high up there. He felt his jaw tighten before he replied. “They’re basically mammals, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Close enough.” He nodded, approving of that, which was more than a little weird. “This is still not at all what I was expecting today, but if you’re good... I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you, I really do appreciate it.” Alex unclenched his jaw and managed a thin smile. “There are ulterior motives, though, just not hers or mine. Shit, with Eleya the ulterior motives probably have ulterior motives.”
“Who?”
“The Empress.” Alex was surprised, for a moment, that someone didn’t know who Eleya was. He had been on her capital ship for the last week, though, so that likely skewed things.
“Ah. So she stands to benefit?” The way he said it made it clear Peter did not understand how in the world that could be.
“Yes. I think her primary concern is Carbon... Their relationship isn’t great, and Eleya is trying to use me as a ‘get out of jail free card’ to fix it. Which, you know, presents its own problems.”
“What?” He understood that even less.
“Like I said, things got intense on the Kshlav’o. We bonded, and she’s... Very much enamored with me. Eleya saw an opportunity to give her something she actually wanted to have, so she could be back in her niece’s good graces.” Alex wasn’t sure how much of this he should be talking about, particularly hanging out on an entirely unsecured patio, but he needed a little bit of feedback on everything. “They had intercepted some intel that put me on a kill list, probably because I’m one of the few Humans to ever end up on their news, as part of something that was a little contentious with the public. Protection from that was the carrot to get me on board with being a poker chip. Which I’m not okay with, to be clear about it.”
“Fuck.” Peter was lost for a moment before continuing, “what the fuck?”
“I dunno man. Didn’t work, obviously. At least it seems like this arrangement is being taken seriously. Got the Royal doctors, the guy that shanked me was executed by firing squad. Some folks seem to think I’m actually being groomed to operate in the court, which is... it’s bonkers.” Alex managed a clipped, sarcastic laugh, annoyed by the very idea. “Can you think of a worse person for that?”
“I’m not saying this because you’re my brother, but yeah, like... twenty or thirty off the top of my head.”
“Thanks, I think.” Alex chuckled at the absurdity of it and shook his head. “Plus, the Empress gets a symbol and a shield as well, and some nice propaganda. I’m still not sure how all of that shakes out, but she’s the one with the experience running the Empire. I’m just the guy that all of humanity's integrity will be judged by.”
“Oh, well, sounds easy.” Peter clapped a hand onto his shoulder and gave him a very serious nod. “You can do it.”
“Yeah.” Alex looked back through the patio door at the sound of the doorbell going off. “Looks like everybody is here. I’ll explain more later.”
Peter nodded, sliding the door open again. “Sounds good.”
They stepped back inside and he exchanged a quick wave with Carbon, who was sitting on the couch now, drinking tea. The front door closed and Jason started loudly announcing everything that came to mind to his grandmother. “We saw sharks today!”
“Energetic as ever, huh?” The kid’s enthusiasm was infectious, Alex grinning as he looked back over to Peter. “Remind me before we go, I have something for him from the expedition.”
Pete laughed. “Will do. And yeah, it’s been crazy since he turned four.”
Audrey came around the corner into the living room with Milly and Jason in tow and had just opened her mouth to introduce them when Jason noticed Carbon. His eyes grew wide and he bolted towards her, arms flung over his head in delight. “IT’S A PUPPY!”
Milly grabbed for his shirt and missed, the young boy launching himself onto the couch a moment later. He tossed his arms around Carbon’s neck and hugged her tight. “Mom, dad! It’s a puppy!”
Carbon hugged him back with a laugh. “He is quite spirited.”
Milly was extricating him from Carbon a moment later, apologizing about his behavior profusely. Peter gave Alex a sidelong glance and a nervous laugh as he went to help. “Let’s go tell grandpa about your day...”
Everyone disappeared from the living room with remarkable speed, Jason’s protests quickly derailed by the prospect of talking about sharks some more.
“I am curious.” Carbon smoothed her fur out with a wry smile on her face. “Is a puppy what I think it is? And if it were not a young child calling me that, how offended do you think I should be?”