After some water and an hour Tyler was intoxicated but not in danger of passing out or embarrassing himself. Allison on the other hand with a couple of glasses of the glowing blue sugar bomb she had no name for yet was feeling one hundred percent stone cold sober. This seemed to confuse the Yorleer organizer. Who kept asking if she was okay to take part in the upcoming award ceremony. The Silwrath who had joined her were all intoxicated. Nutina was by far the worst off.
“Are you sure, we can wait longer if required.”
Allison nodded.
“Yes, I am fine, ma’am.”
The Yorleer rushed off. Allison had been chatting with a lot of League representatives. They were all enamored with the one the Silwrath called Destroyer and Swarmslayer. This evening was making it apparent that the Silwrath were the backbone of the League war machine. So, anyone who earned their respect was someone who was worth knowing. There was a lull in Allison’s alien visitors. Her mother used that as an opportunity to speak to her. She was speaking quietly.
“Allison, what was that at the bar? You had no idea what that alcohol would do to you.”
Allison shrugged.
“I was doing what the SA asked me to do, impress the League. I barely noticed it. Must be a dhampir thing.”
Her mother motioned at Tyler.
“Why did you let him drink it then?”
Allison shrugged.
“He didn’t want to be rude. He’s fine. I got him lots of water.”
“You need to be better Allison. The League looks at you as an example of the best humanity has to offer.”
Allison rolled her eyes.
“It’s not my fault they are bad judges of character, is it?”
Apiyo gasped.
“Allison Wanjala, I do not like this attitude.”
Allison was saved from the full wrath of her mother when the Yorleer representative appeared and motioned for Allison to follow her. Allison looked at her mom.
“Mom, please keep an eye on Tyler.”
Her mother crossed her arms and nodded. Allison was sure she would hear more about this later. She followed the Yorleer up on the stage. The consulate head was one of the Squirrel like Vortique. He stood up on the low stage and spoke. His voice was being projected through a speaker system. He seemed very soft-spoken. A trait that Allison would soon realize was common to the species.
“May have your attention everyone.”
He repeated himself a few times. Allison in an act that would embarrass her mother for years to come put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. She’d been hooked up for sound as well. Everyone in the room immediately turned to the stage. Allison blushed slightly and looked at the Vortique ambassador.
“Sorry, sir.”
The ambassador looked at her and bowed his head slightly.
“Thank you, Ensign.”
He turned to the Gala guests and spoke.
“Welcome everyone. I will keep this brief. I know we’re all enjoying ourselves and would like to get the party started in earnest. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge how thankful we are to open this embassy. This is the first time we’ve made diplomatic ties with another multispecies organization. It is gratifying to know that there are others out in the void of space that agree that color, shape and size should present no barrier to peaceful co-existence. Let us all hope this is a first step to a new and shining future between our two governments.”
Everyone clapped.
“Now onto the reason we’re holding this Gala tonight. We are gathered here to honor the bravery and dedication of this young warrior. Allison Wanjala. To the System’s Alliance she is called Ensign and Hero. The League, has its own titles for her, Destroyer of Worlds and Swarmslayer. It is a long tradition of the Silwrath, who form the main body of our armed forces, to declare such things on warriors of who go above and beyond the call of duty. These are unofficial titles. We have all been called here to witness the awarding of a title that has not been officially provided in five centuries to this young warrior. Silwrath high command has recommended, and the council has unanimously ratified the decision to bestow our highest honors on Ensign Allison Wanjala. She is named Battlelord and is to be awarded the Galactic Medal of Freedom. She is granted these titles and honors in recognition of her defeat of a Sal’nash swarm that threatened to eradicate all life in this galaxy and beyond.”
Nutina came out and bowed her head to Allison who bowed her head in return. Nutina hung a purple ribbon holding a medal around her neck and offered Allison two cases. She spoke quietly.
“I am honored to call you friend, Battlelord.”
Nutina moved away. The ambassador spoke again.
“Her Royal Highness, Tearyna Qualistori would like to say a few words and provide an award unique to her people.”
The ambassador stepped aside and Aryna walked up to the center of the low stage after giving Allison a warm smile. Aryna looked at the crowd.
“The League representatives present are well aware what my people lost in the last Sal’nash swarm, but our friends in the System’s Alliance may not be. My mother and my people chose to use a weapon of terrible destructive power to initiate a supernova in our home system. This sacrifice put an end to the last swarm. My friend, and sister, Allison prevented this tragedy from replaying itself on a much larger scale. Her actions have not only rescued me so that I may one day return to the remnants of the Qual’sa people to lead them into a new future, but prevented that future from being cut short by dealing with the swarm before it could begin anew. For these actions, I declare her: Ro’Mer Saras, Crown Guardian. When we read the names of the great houses, Wanjala will be added to the list. She and her descendants are forever more, declared nobles of a great house. I grant her the title Duchess and finally, it is my pleasure to name her my sister in spirit.”
Aryna looked at Allison.
“When I am once again with my people, you will be granted a blade to recognize your prowess as a warrior. Until then, sister, I present you with these as a gift.”
A Yorleer approached Allison with a case, which the Yorleer woman opened. Allison smiled. Inside were a matching set of Qual’sa pistols. They were slimmer than the one she had been using. They were silver and sized for her hands which were larger than was typical for Qual’sa. They featured the same smooth shape of all Qual’sa designed equipment. Allison bowed her head and took the offered case. Aryna stepped away and Eminence Keer stepped up.
“Greetings. The Silwrath would like to honor the Battlelord’s contribution as well. We are here to present her with armor fitting her new title.”
Nutina came out with a suit of stylized Silwrath armor. It was dark purple. It appeared to be made of the same material as the Silwrath special forces battle armor. Only it was designed specifically for Allison. Allison bowed her head and accepted the armor carrier. The Eminence bowed his head to her then addressed the Gala.
“Please enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Allison carried her things off the stage. The Yorleer who had been helping organize things escorted Allison to a side chamber where she was able to lock it all up. She was happy to get back to the Gala. She approached Tyler.
“Sorry about that, you want to dance?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The first song was definitely not slow. It was Silwrath throat singing apparently. Allison wasn’t familiar with the style, but the beat made her want to bang her head and bounce a lot. Tyler got into it. They were the only humans to get involved in what frankly turned into a Silwrath mosh pit. It had started to occur to Allison that out of the league, the Silwrath were the fun ones. Next was almost a waltz like song. This some humans danced to. She grabbed Tyler who was trying to escape and pulled him towards her.
“Are you leading, or am I?”
Tyler seemed pretty go with the flow at the moment, likely because he was feeling the Silwrath drink fro earlier. They watched the Yorleer who were dancing and mimicked them. Allison had never lacked finesse with her physical movements. Tyler on the other hand had some challenges. She caught him a few times. They danced to several more songs from representative races of the League. They were dancing to an Earth song when Allison noticed her mother approaching the stage. The music suddenly cut off. Her mother spoke.
“Hello everyone, I am sorry for interrupting. I’ve just been advised that a severe winter storm is going to arrive shortly. We thought it was going to pass us by, but it changed directions. It is so bad I’ve been forced to declare a state of emergency. I would ask that everyone return to your homes, or to your ships in orbit. Or within the next twenty to thirty minutes, you will not be able too. I would encourage everyone who has open space in their vehicles to share rides as we’re already experiencing interference with our robot taxis.”
Allison released Tyler. Tyler seemed confused and asked Allison.
“Does this happen a lot?”
She shook her head.
“No, first time my mom’s declared a state of emergency in the history of the colony as far as I know.”
Everyone started rushing about. Her mother was busy organizing rides and helping to get people on their waiting shuttles off world. Eventually it came down to a couple of on duty CDF members, Allison, her mother, Tyler and Aryna. Allison spoke up.
“Mom, just get them to the base, I’m a pilot, I’m not flying in this, they’re Army, you’ll need them for cleanup. Tyler and I can stay here. There’s no way he’s getting home before it hits. You can drop Aryna off and just run the emergency response from the base. They have lots of space here. I’m sure the Ambassador won’t mind.”
Ambassador Tusqueek nodded.
“Yes, we have plenty of supplies, the Battlelord and her companion may stay here until it passes.”
Allison felt like there was more to his agreement than she was seeing but shrugged and let it go. Apiyo looked like she would disagree but then nodded.
“I will pick the two of you up the moment I can. Behave. You’re representatives of Earth.”
Allison gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. Her mother gave her a strange look after glancing at Allison’s waist. She didn’t say anything though and walked off. The staff were busy tidying up the Ambassador motioned to Allison.
“I have allowed you and your friend access to the kitchen and other non-private rooms of the Embassy, please make yourself comfortable.”
Allison glanced at Tyler.
“I’ll meet you in the kitchen, just don’t touch the bumpy purple fruit that looks like an apple, won’t kill you but they’re full of worms.”
Tyler blinked a few times then walked off and asked a wall panel where the kitchen was. Allison crossed her arms and looked down at the Ambassador. He was at least a foot shorter than her when she wasn’t wearing heels.
“So, care to explain the real reason you were so eager to have me stay? Not that I mind, sir, but I’d like to know if I need to be prepared to shoot anyone tonight.”
His pointed ears went back slightly, and he rubbed his small hands in front of him.
“The uh, Silwrath do not consider this Embassy at risk so evacuated. The contingent of Yorleer security was delayed and will not be able to land until the storm has passed. I was hoping you could, act as security until they arrive.”
Allison nodded.
“Sir, please, next time just ask. As a member of the Colony Defense Forces, I am happy to help but please don’t manipulate me. It tends to make humans angry.”
The wind was already starting to howl over the embassy. Green lightning flashed in the sky. Allison uncrossed her arms. He jumped when thunder crashed. Allison turned to look in the direction Tyler went and walked off. The Ambassador hurried to catch up to her.
“The reports your mother provided say it could get as low as -80 tonight. I was not aware it could get colder than 0. Are we at risk of power failure?”
Allison stopped and quickly typed in a conversion request for -80 c to standard League temperatures. Her connection to the Alliance-Net failed. She sighed and closed her eyes.
“No, that’s -80 Celsius, 0 being the temperature water freezes at, and no, the power will not fail, all of these structures are built from non-conductive materials. And only a direct lightning strike might knock the fusion reactor offline. We’re fine, sir.”
He kept rushing to keep up.
“And the cold?”
Allison stopped and turned to him.
“Sir, these fusion reactors are designed to work in space. We’ll be fine. And before you ask, no, there is no risk of collapse unless we suddenly end up floating in a gas giant. These habitations can be deployed in up to four thousand feet of water. They are built in space and are pressurized, and people work on them without vacuum suits. Everything will be fine.”
The Ambassador still seemed concerned. Allison was starting to understand why the Silwrath didn’t have much love for his species. They were the complete opposites. Allison waited patiently for him to voice his further concerns.
“Your mother said she had never seen a storm like this here, how do we know it won’t get worse? And what if it lasts for months?”
Allison nodded along with him, trying to keep her expression empathetic to his concerns. The anxiety with these guys was off the charts. She wondered what kind of world they evolved on.
“Yes, but we have had winter storms before, just not this bad. They always pass in twelve to fifteen hours. The CDF and civilians will get the roads cleared. Your shuttles can land, and I can go home. If it lasts for an extended period of time. We have military space craft more than capable of landing and evacuating us. Humans take our safety very seriously.”
Another clap of thunder shook the building. He jumped again.
“Sir, I suggest you take one of the translators that was provided to you, put it on, once it syncs with your device use the option for NC. It is noise cancellation. Put some music on, read a book and relax in one of the interior rooms. You won’t hear a thing. By the time you wake up, this should all be over.”
He rubbed his furry hands together.
“Yes, yes, that sounds like an excellent plan. You are a credit to your people. If only our own soldiers would so such patience.”
Allison bowed her head and watched him run off. She suddenly envied her mother who didn’t have to deal with him. She went to the kitchen. Some staff were busy packing up left over finger foods from the Gala. Two Yorleer and two Vortique, all women. Tyler was trying to stand out of the way he looked pretty traumatized. Allison looked down and saw one of the butt fruit in his hand. Nasty black worms wiggled around the bite he took. Allison gently took it from his hand wiped the worms onto her palm and tossed all of it into the compost bin. He quickly wiped his hands on his tuxedo in disgust.
“It looked so good but tasted… like. Why did it have worms?”
Allison glanced at the compost bin.
“So, the Silwrath break them in half and pull the worms out to clean their teeth. They don’t eat the fruit; They’re called butt fruit because it tastes like… well… you can guess. Don’t worry the worms won’t hurt you the Silwrath swallow them when they finish cleaning their teeth. Silwrath basically eat the same stuff we do, more meat though.”
Allison tapped one of the Vortique women on the shoulder.
“Excuse me ma’am, my friend here ate some butt fruit and a few worms. Is there anything you have that can help him get the taste of it out of his mouth, and is there anything for us to eat?”
The woman had white and brown fur and by all appearances seemed less bothered by the storm and state of emergency then the ambassador. Her ears perked up and she laughed. She spoke in League standard to her coworkers who all laughed. It appeared Tyler was the butt of a joke… Allison chastised herself for the unintentional mental pun. She finally turned to Allison.
“Of course, Battlelord, Ezeen is the chef and will take care of it.”
One of the Yorleer women started digging through the cooling unit and poured a glass of thick cyan fluid and put it in front of Tyler.
“Drink up, young human.”
She turned to Allison.
“I will make a meal worthy of a Battlelord, my lady. Please have a seat.”
Allison sat on a breakfast bar stool. The habitations were prefabricated in certain formfactors with furniture bundled in them, then linked together to build a bigger structure, so this kitchen was identical to the one at her house. The embassy staff had not had a chance to customize it. Tyler sat down beside her and looked at the blue fluid skeptically. Allison took it and took a sip. She put it down and shrugged.
“Texture of milk it is a bit sweet. I’d drink it, unless you want that taste in your mouth.”
Tyler picked up the glass and took a cautious sip. He took a bigger mouthful afterwards. He wiped his mouth off. Allison shook her head.
“I’ve figured out that I need to try everything once, no matter what it looks like. Provided I’ve scanned and made sure it’s compatible with our biology. The League has been very good about getting food labeled. I spent a week on a Silwrath ship. Some of the food looked downright disgusting but tasted so good.”
Allison’s eyes drifted over to the Yorleer chef who was frying up noodles with a mixture of vegetables and meat. She portioned it in half and put a bowl out for both of the teenagers. Allison used the Yorleer version of chopsticks that were provided and dug in without any hesitation. Tyler watched her. Allison nodded to the chef and smiled.
“It’s delicious thank you.”
Ezeen bowed her head then went back to assisting with the cleanup. Tyler hesitantly tried his after glancing at Allison to see how she was managing to eat with two sticks. He tried each individual part then started eating. Tyler finished his bowl off. Allison elbowed him gently and motioned to Ezeen. Tyler adjusted his glasses.
“Thank you, Ezeen.”
The woman turned to him and smiled.
“You’re welcome. Now, shoo so we can finish up here. Unless Battlelords and their dates like to do dishes.”
Allison picked up both bowls and the utensils and put them in the dishwasher. Ezeen smiled at her.
“I’d like to see a Silwrath warrior do that, just once.”
Allison shrugged.
“If my mom heard I left dishes sitting on a counter she’d ground me and give me a lecture on respect.”
Ezeen who was a chubbier version of a Yorleer then Allison had seen before smiled.
“If you need anything else, just grab the leftovers, we have plenty of human food in here as well, I take it you also do more cooking then your Silwrath brethren?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks again. Come on Tyler lets go find someplace to get out of the way.”
Tyler waved to the kitchen and wait staff as Allison dragged him out of the room.