Chapter Thirty

AAMC (Adamis Alliance Military Conglomerate)

Jenna looked over the candidates provided by Admiral Lou Denver as they lined up on the dock outside her palace. All of them were male, which was fine by Jenna. They were all head and shoulders taller than her, even in her heels. She had deliberately worn heels in order to look bigger, but it had been a waste of time. Standing beside them, she looked like a sapling in an old growth forest.

She hadn’t done the power walk when she met them. They had doubtless seen better power walks than hers. Maybe they even had better power walks than hers themselves. Instead, she had been waiting for them when their pod touched down. Vash was beside her, which she felt gave her more credibility as his body was just as massive as theirs. However, his distaste for them was more than evident, and Jenna realized that she was not going to be able to use him to care for these guests as much as she had for the last set.

She welcomed them, had Vash show them their quarters, and invited them to the courtyard of the Dahlia Palace for lunch.

Each of them introduced themselves in a deafening shout before taking their seats.

“Major Yago Radcliff.” He resembled a boulder, the kind that crushed you in a rock slide.

“Major Martin Vector.” He resembled a troll, the kind that turned to stone at sunrise.

“Major Killner Soldier.” He looked like a rock man that never gave good advice.

“Major Vance Yisling.” He was more like a gargoyle in that the look on his face was so unpleasant and his back was so lumpy, he could have been hiding anything under his shirt.

“Major Iker Hu.” He looked the most like Vash, but his existence made Vash look more like a rock man than he had looked before.

“Major Starling Ocher.” The last man looked like you would mistake him for a statue, you’d turn your back on him and he’d bludgeon you in the back of the head. He wouldn’t do it that way because he needed the element of surprise, but because he liked the element of surprise. If he moved around, everyone expected him to bludgeon them to death.

It seemed the AAMC was unwilling to part with an officer of a higher rank than a major and… they were only willing to part with their calcium-heavy boys.

“I am Jenna Fairchild, and I’m sure you’ve all read the information page about me. Have any of you ever spoken to an Octavian before?”

They looked between the candidates. Finally, Major Yisling said, “I’ve dealt with them many times, but the ones I have worked with haven’t been able to talk. You couldn’t really have a conversation with them.”

“I’ve texted with them,” Major Hu offered. “They couldn’t talk either, but they could type. The way they think is really different from us.”

“I see,” Jenna said when no one else had anything else to say. “In that case, I’d like to introduce you to the chair of the Octavian Council, Favel.”

Vash pushed the blue Octavian in, already in his goblet chair. He placed the chair next to Jenna and edged out of the room without looking at the military men.

Favel raised himself up out of the water and said, “Hello. I look forward to speaking with all of you.”

Jenna looked over the room at the responses from the majors. None of them looked enthusiastic. However, they managed to dodge looking rude. Still, something was wrong.

Jenna put her mouth in her palm to whisper to Sardius. “Is there something I’m missing? Why do they all look like that?”

“I’m confused too,” Sardius admitted.

Jenna removed her hand from her mouth. “Please begin eating,” Jenna said to the group. “After lunch we’ll have a round table discussion.”

“Excuse me, ma’am, why aren’t you eating?” Major Radcliff asked her.

Jenna looked at her empty plate and the purple drink Sardius had recommended for her to replace her meal. So far, the only thing Jenna was missing about food was the taste. Otherwise, Sardius’ shake made her feel full, but light at the same time.

“My personal assistant, Sardius, recommended that I try not eating for a while. He says that this is what people do during deep space travel and to achieve their fitness goals.”

“I haven’t eaten in years,” the soldier replied. “And I’d very much like to try the supplement your assistant has prepared for you.”

Others were nodding.

Jenna smiled. “I’ll get my cook to prepare identical shakes for you.”

Upon hearing this, Sardius whispered, “Smoothie says she has enough ready to serve the group now. She was making a batch that she planned to preserve, but if they want some, they can be passed around immediately.”

“Can Vash serve them?” Jenna asked, hiding her tension behind a calm smile.

“He’s in a very foul mood. He’s asking if Misha can do the serving for him.”

“Does he have a good reason?”

Jenna waited while Sardius worked out the kinks on the other end. “He says he knows some of the soldiers from when he was in basic training. He doesn’t know if they’ve recognized him yet, but he really doesn’t want to hover over them in a server capacity.”

“Can’t Smoothie just float them in with her mind?” Jenna asked between the set teeth of her smile.

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“No. She can’t,” Sardius said firmly. “It’s a secret that I have her working here and I’d like to keep it that way. If you think the soldiers were racist toward Favel, you’ll see something completely different if they see you have a Sushfief working for you.”

“Why? I thought they were allies.”

“I told you,” Sardius ventured. “They can move things with their minds. One Shushfief can take out an entire unit of Adamis without breaking a sweat. The Adamis didn’t want to recognize them as equals and welcome them to the Adamis Alliance, but that was much better than the way any of their other conflicts have ended.”

“Can we get one of their diplomats over here?” was the first thing Jenna thought upon hearing that tidbit.

“One of the Shushfiefs’ or one of the Adamis’?”

“Both! We’re only as picky as we have to be,” she blustered, still trying to keep their conversation private.

“I’ll look into it. Vash is in Misha’s workshop begging her to do the serving for him. She’s taking him for all he’s worth. Here’s the audio.”

Jenna heard Misha’s voice, high and mighty, say, “And I’m going to need a massage.”

“Of course!” Vash squealed.

“One for every meal I serve them.”

“That’s twelve massages!” Vash complained.

“Take it or leave it.”

“Fine.”

“If I’m going to cover for your duties, I’m going to need you to help me with a few of mine from time to time. You know, the ones involving heavy lifting,” she taunted with a satisfied squeak.

“Fine. Just get out there.”

Jenna scratched behind her ear while Sardius cut out the audio.

“Everything all right, Jenna?” Favel asked, drumming his suckers against the side of his plate.

“Do I look nonplussed?” she replied with an easy smile.

“No. You look perfect. If even one of these guys were half as perfect as you, we’d be winning.”

Jenna glanced at his uneaten food. “Don’t you eat either?”

“Oh, I love to eat, but I have misgivings about eating here. You saw their faces. If I started pulling food into the water and chowing down, they’d be horrified. Octavians do not have table manners like Adamis. Have you ever seen an Octavian dine, My Lady?”

“Not really. I always thought octopuses had very private feeding habits since their mouths are so hidden. It’s us that have to make ourselves look more polite with our pretty polished forks and tidy folded napkins.”

Jenna looked back at Favel’s plate. Half the fruit was gone and one of the shellfish.

“Did you just?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes. I just ate half of what was on my plate, and you didn’t notice at all.” He scooped up his napkin and dabbed at a spot under his eyes where his mouth would have been if he had been human, but was nowhere near his actual mouth. He chuckled, making bubbles in the water.

“You are very cute,” Jenna praised.

Just then, Misha came into the room with a mighty platter of meal supplements. Her pink hair was everywhere. Her outfit consisting of a corset and ruffles made her look like the equivalent of a medieval barmaid. The soldiers loved it. One of them even hooted.

“Is it okay for them to hoot at her?” Favel whispered.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought so,” Jenna said, putting her hand in Favel’s goblet, cupping her hand and pouring the water over his mantle.

“Jenna,” Sardius whispered roughly. “Why did you do that?”

“I was worried he’d dry out. He was looking dry. I saw the other Octavian council members shoot water at each other during our last meeting. I thought it was a socially acceptable thing to do,” she murmured into her left hand as she bent it to provide passage for the sound to travel through to her ear.

“Octavians are all about gestures because most of them can’t speak. What you just did was far more than if Favel had placed a sucker on your hand the other night.”

Jenna looked out at the candidates wondering if any of them had noticed what she had done.

One of them was staring at her. It was the candidate with the last name of Soldier. He was looking at her most distastefully.

Jenna met his disdain with a smile and raised her glass to him.

He raised his glass back at her, but the look on his face did not suggest he had softened toward her.

After lunch, they spent the rest of the day talking to the candidates as a group. Favel talked to them. Jenna talked to them. Sardius talked to them.

Before dinner, they gave them a full tour of the Sand Palace, saying they would be required to live in such a space for most of the year if they were crowned. Then they gave the AAMC candidates a break, letting them lounge around before they were served the exact same supplement they had been served for lunch. They seemed to like that.

Jenna watched them.

She wasn’t sure what she thought of them, but she felt certain that they had thoughts about her. She was willing to bet her crown Vash knew more about the way they thought that she did. She had to talk to him.

***

Jenna met Vash in her bedroom. It wasn’t the first time she’d been in her bedroom at the same time as him. He cleaned her bedroom, watered her plants, and tended her fish. But the room always felt too small when she was inside it with him. Both of them tried not to be in the room at the same time, but it felt stupid for Jenna to meet him anywhere else since she wanted to have a private conversation with him. It didn’t feel safe to talk anywhere the AAMC majors had been. They were trained to leave bugs and other audio recording devices all over. Her security footage and Sardius confirmed that none of them had been in her bedroom. Sardius was scanning the other rooms in the palace, but he wasn’t finished yet.

“Care to tell me what happened today?” she asked her butler kindly.

“It was unacceptable for me to refuse to fulfill my duties in that manner,” Vash said, standing like a soldier.

“I’m not sure I’m bothered by how you behaved today, if you can tell me what incited it.”

“I was in the military once,” he said slowly, like admitting anything to Jenna hurt his pride terribly. “It wasn’t that I wasn’t strong. It was that the hazing hospitalized me.” He didn’t say anything more, but stood still like a stone.

Jenna picked up the conversation. “One of the men who hazed you is out there?”

“Major Soldier and perhaps a few of the others.”

“Has he said anything to you since he got here?”

“No. He just looked at me.”

“He looked at me too,” Jenna said.

Vash’s gaze flicked uncomfortably around the room. “I knew they were coming. I thought I could stand it when I took this position, but when I saw him in your dining room, I knew I couldn’t. I was expecting AAMC personnel. I was not expecting him to be here.”

“I understand. That would unsettle anyone. Sardius, show Vash the escape routes in the palace. I want him to be able to make quick getaways should he feel unsafe.”

“Certainly,” Sardius agreed on the loudspeaker.

Looking at Vash, Jenna knew he was finished talking. He did not want to go over what happened, either the night of his hazing or what happened to his life as a consequence of leaving the military. He wanted everything to be over.

“Why don’t you two have that meeting in Vash’s room?” she added. Looking at Vash, he couldn’t stand for her to look at him any longer. “Vash, if you remain deeply uncomfortable after tonight, I’ll give you a sea rover and you can go help out at the Stone Palace for the remainder of their stay.”

His eyes brightened at the idea.

“Or we can just plan for you to do that in the morning,” she offered.

Vash nodded.

“Sardius, invite Misha in here,” Jenna said after her butler had gone. “We need to change the schedule.”