Enid was at in the pilot’s seat of the transport shuttle that was sent through the worm hole. Apollo had been right the autopilot on it was about the same as the ones from the 21st century, it could fly straight, hold a geo-synchronous orbit, or maintain an orbit but reentry was completely on her. She glanced at the two love birds she’d selected as the representatives of their world. The pair were staring down at their world. Tapped in the command on the holo-panel to bring up comms she selected the comm channel for Amee’s private holo-phone and waited for her to answer. Amee’s face appeared.

“Hey gorgeous.”

“You going to be home soon Enid?”

“Yes, water’s delivered, flour’s delivered. Have a load of ocean water and fish, along with the ASAP samples you requested. Tentative cease fire was signed at the temple in the crevasse. They’ll be ready for deployment of the water pumps and bio-domes, digging has and clearing has begun. Used the portable fusion units to ensure Sanctuary could maintain steady power for their pumps and green houses. VIPs on board and excited to see their new home. All green over here. Once I finish talking to you, I’ll be asking Maria to open a wormhole to Sol. Debriefing on Pluto Station while I’m waiting for Apollo to arrive then home.”

“Good, I have some plans for us, and a surprise.”

“Clothes on or off?”

“I’d a little bit of column A, a lot of column B.”

“Can’t wait.”

“See you soon Enid.”

Enid blew Amee a kiss and closed the channel. She heard T’raaalie’s tail thumping on the deck and glanced back. The Mind Mage was looking at her.

“She is your wife?”

“Not yet. Maybe one day. Who knows.”

Her tail continued to thump.

“Even though the words are foreign I know love when I hear it and your thoughts were quite…interesting.”

Enid shook her head and chuckled.

“Brace yourselves once the wormhole opens, never gone through one of these things, no idea how rough it is so be prepared for a bumpy ride.”

Enid opened a channel to Pluto Station. She was looking at the face of one of Maria’s techs.

“This is Enid Aurelius, ready for the wormhole.”

“Stand by, royal highness.”

“What?”

“Your file says Empress of Eternal Night. Is royal highness not the proper honorific?”

“Enid’s fine. So, what can I expect with this thing? Is it rough?”

“I don’t know, you’re the first person to use one.”

Enid made a coughed and made a face.

“Say again.”

“You will be the first one to use a wormhole from the far end.”

“Glorious.”

She switched to the sauroid language.

“Ya hold on to something.”

The tech motioned to Enid.

“We’re starting up Project Stargate now. Capacitors are charged. I’ll tell you went to enter. Don’t hesitate. Stability will become an issue.”

Enid wanted so much to facepalm right now. But too late now. A pinprick of light formed from the wormhole beacon and what appeared the be a micro black hole formed. Light started from the red star started to warp and bend. Enid and her passengers watched. She had to admit it was quite beautiful to see.

“Go now!”

Enid slammed the throttle first and the ship lept forward. There was no stretching or and it felt like she had no control once they entered the wormhole then suddenly they were hurtling out of a structure that looked like a ship dry dock in the space around Pluto. No bumps, no stomach lurches just like they were one place ten seconds ago and now they were somewhere else forty light years away.

“We’re in one piece as far as I can tell.”

“Confirmed you are on Pluto Station scanners, welcome home your majesty. You are cleared to land in bay six.”

Enid decided to make a loop past the Cerberus. Its bony superstructure was now covered in a shiny silver coating that reflected the lights of the space dock and made it look like it was made of liquid platinum. Her passengers gasped at the size of it. She glanced back at them.

“I’m told her name will be Cerberus. Sorry wanted a closer look.”

Enid shifted her course completing the loop and hitting the breaking thrustors as she brought the transport into the brightly lit bay she’d been assigned. She felt she was back flying a Globemaster. She hated flying Globemasters. Once she’d landed, she started powering down the craft.

“Welcome to Pluto Station.”

Enid unstrapped herself and stood up. She looked at T’raaalie and Y’trrrl who were busy looking out at the massive docking bay they found themselves in. T’raaalie looked at Enid.

“Your people are gods. You build such things.”

“No, we are just very handy. You’ll get used to it. Trust me.”

Enid put her arms behind the lower backs of her passengers.

“Shall we go meet the natives?”

She led the pair of sauroids down the ramp that lowered at the back of the transport. They were greeted by Maria and her command staff in full formal dress. Enid translated for Maria as she shook the two newcomer’s hands.

“I am Admiral Maria of the Aurelius Clutch. Commanding officer of this station. I am also Enid’s clutch mate. Welcome to our solar system.”

*****

Enid playfully rolled Amee on her back kissing her on the lips. Their tongues fighting a brief duel. Enid’s hips pushed Amee’s apart. The pair had been inseparable for the last day and not much had gotten done. Enid’s fingers pinched one of Amee’s nipples gently then a little bit more roughly causing the later to moan softly. Enid leaned in and kissed Amee again. Enid slipped her elbows down on other side of her girlfriend and her palms over her chest. She leaned her chin on her hands and looked in Amee’s magenta eyes.

“I missed you.”

“You did?”

Amee shifted and rolled on top of Enid pinning her to the bed, her own hips pushing Enids thighs apart. She kissed Enid deeply. She shifted off the other side of her lover her fingers tracing Enid’s inner thigh and moving up and down between her thighs. Enid gasped and closed her eyes opening herself up further to Amee’s probing fingers.

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“Oh, gods yes, right there.”

Enid groaned when she heard Miko start to cry out for her mother. Enid held up her finger.

“Wait right there.”

She slipped out from under Amee and hopped across the cold floor to see what was amiss with Miko. She found her on her daybed waiting for her.

“Momma!”

Enid sighed and scooped up her daughter and was immediately glompped onto.

“I’m guessing you’re hungry?”

Miko nodded. Enid walked to the kitchen and put her daughter down in her play area and poured a sippy cup of milk. She crouched down and offered to her. Miko took it and started gulping down.

“I guess I should get a drink.”

Enid reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of coffee flavored synth-o. She was product testing it. She told Eyre about it only two weeks before she left for Trappist-1 and when she got back there was a crate of the stuff waiting for it. Had the same texture as blood gave her just as much nourishment but damned if it didn’t taste like she was drinking a black coffee. She sat cross legged by Miko the fifteen-month-old was playfully trying to get her bottle to drink from it. Enid lifted away while giggling softly.

“This is definitely not for babies.”

She heard the soft pad of Amee’s slippers coming down the hall. She looked up at her and smiled. Amee smiled back.

“Sorry, you said wait right there but, didn’t seem like you’d be coming back.”

Amee tugged her robe around her and sat in the rocking chair Mitena had acquired for Enid she watched the mother and daughter. Enid was wiggling a stuffed bunny for Miko who was giggling happily trying to grab its ears. Enid was laughing with her taking a sip of her synth-o every so often.

“Sometimes I forget you’re an ancient vampire, most of the time you just seem like a young mother, who has a thing for girls with magenta eyes.”

Enid looked back at Amee.

“I like to forget about the ancient vampire thing. It feels better to be just Enid, mom.”

Amee slipped of the chair and leaned against Enid’s back and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman’s waist.

“Why didn’t we do this when we first met?”

“It was Christmas.”

“Seems like a silly reason.”

“I was also about to sacrifice myself in a vain attempt to save all of creation.”

“A little better.”

“I was already in a relationship.”

“Loyalty to your partners is good.”

“You were fifteen and I was a two-thousand-year-old woman.”

“Another valid point.”

Amee put her chin on Enid’s naked shoulder. Her cheek against the red-haired girl. She looked at the green eyed Miko who smiled at her while making the bunny hop along the soft rug she was sitting on.

“She has your eyes.”

“She does.”

Enid took a deep breath and leaned against her lover.

“This feels so right. Like this is the exact place I should be.”

“I know what you mean. I couldn’t stop thinking of you after we met again…”

Miko was tugging on Amee’s fingers. Amee her take them. By the time Miko was finished she was in her mother’s lap and Amee had her arms around both of them. Enid laughed softly.

“Looks like Miko agrees.”

“Looks like she does.”

*****

Enid spun the half full bottle of synth-o in her boredom, a younger version of her would have mocked her for fidgeting instead of sitting stoically and completely still. She had been sitting listening to the panel of xenobiologists, astrometric specialists, and astronomers debate next targets for about seven hours. She wasn’t even really sure why she’d been dragged into this mess. She was none of above. In fact she was struggling to figure out what the difference between an astrometric specialist and an astronomer was. As far as they could tell they both spent their days staring out into space. Or at least through the telescopes at the edge of the sol system, Alpha Centauri system, and now the Trappist-1 system. She yawned in spite of herself. When a meeting can put the dead to sleep, it should be an indication it needs to end. She took another drink of blood and spoke.

“You guys are killing me here, and I’m already dead. Just point at some stars on a map that aren’t black holes, neutron stars, or magnetars and lets just go see what’s there. Its not like we’re going to run out of gas.”

Doctor Bryce Donner. Who was the research leader for the project looked at Enid who hadn’t said a word for the entirety of the think tank like she was speaking gibberish.

“We have limited time; we need habitable systems and we need them now. Your fantastical opinion that we’ll find a magic planet by pointing a star chart and saying there! Is wasteful and wistful.”

“Yesh tell me how you really feel shit head. In the seven hours you debated possible targets I could have visited seven different systems, tell me who would have made more progress.”

“I have a doctorate.”

“So, do I. My sister has sixteen. We’re all smart people. I’m also three thousand years old and I’m losing patience with this mess. That should tell you something. With the way you lot do things progress is positively glacial. Surprised the grey didn’t end the human race.”

Enid stood up and tugged on her faux leather jacket.

“Tell you what, you waste your time debating which stars to visit, I’ll go pick up my car, then my daughters and get some ice cream. Try to make sure you pick something before my one-year old’s eighteenth birthday hmm?”

Enid picked up her bike helmet and keys and stormed out of the WTO conference room.

*****

Enid snuggled under the blanket between Hazel and Eyre. The Miko was sleeping under a knitted blanket that had been gifted to her by T’raaalie. The one-year-old had been a hit with the two sauroids. They were watching an old, animated movie that had been recently thawed from a chunk of ice in what was New York City and eating popcorn. Hazel was in heaven. They had ordered pepperoni pizza that night. She had her silver haired head leaned against her mother’s shoulder. Eyre was leaning on Enid’s other side. She loved all her children but she’d reserved the night for her biological children. Hazel looked at her mother as the movie ended. Her eyes were half closed.

“Mom.”

“Mmhmm?”

“Thanks.”

Enid wrapped her arm around the much larger girl and tugged her down for a kiss on the forehead.

“Anytime hon.”

Next thing she knew Hazel’s head was on her thigh and the large wolf-born was snoring quietly while Enid stroked her silver braids. Eyre looked down at her sister.

“Are you sure you need to leave again tomorrow?”

“Well, they picked thirty systems. This is thirty.”

“Yes, but you already found three suitable planets. And remnants of two advanced civilizations”

“This is one Amee added to the list specifically. Figure I can check it out. I mean she is my fiancée.”

“Yes, but this one is in at the edge of another galaxy.”

“It’s only three weeks away with Apollo’s drive.”

“But it’s a whole new galaxy. Mom its fifty thousand light years away. You’ve never had him up to maximum speed. It’s a million times faster than anyone has ever gone before, even you.”

“It will be fine.”

Enid continued to stroke Hazel’s hair as she shifted in her sleep.

“Mom, if something happens, if there is a malfunction, if you suddenly turn mortal. We cannot rescue you.”

Enid tugged Eyre close and kissed her forehead.

“Eyre when the explorers came to the new world, and the colonists no one could rescue them. Some one has to make the first step. This is just bigger than most.”

“Mom you will be traveling a hundred light years an hour. You understand? If you hit something, there is some miscalculation…you will be a bug on a galactic windshield”

Enid laughed.

“Eyre you worry to much. And I’d rather be a bug on a galactic windshield then sit through another one of those think tank sessions.”

Eyre laughed.

“There’s only been four of them.”

“And by the time I left every single one of them I wanted to murder them all.”

“Well, they’re humans and you’re a vampire, kind of…like being stuck in a room full of really annoying juice boxes sometimes.”

Enid laughed softly as not to wake her other two sleeping daughters.

“Eyre, could you put Miko to bed please.”

“Sure mom.”

*****

Enid was stood over the Apollo’s maintenance console checking all his systems. In the last six months she’d become very familiar with the process. She was fairly confident between the pair of them they could deal with anything breaking up to and including the FTL system. She didn’t have to understand the science, as usual she picked up the schematics pretty quickly. She had begged barrowed and stolen components that suffered the most wear and tear that would fit in her pack. Miko was playing with a spare power coupling and giggling. Enid didn’t mind, they were durable, and she had dozens.

“Everything looks good Apollo.”

“I agree. Miko seems to agree.”

Miko was pointing at the starfighter and yelling

“Pollo! Pollo!”

Enid smiled at the child and turned back to the display.

“Furthest we’ve gone in one jump. Its going to strain your systems.”

“I am ready Aunt Enid.”

“Okay going with viper missile quad pack. Two worm hole beacons and 2 comm unites. Along with standard plasma gatling and railgun. Also making sure we got two antimatter warheads. Two extra antimatter containment buoys.”

“Are you expecting trouble Aunt Enid?”

“I’m always expecting trouble. So when no one tries to kill me, I’m always happily surprised.”

Enid watched the drones rearm the starfighter while she played with Miko cross legged. Miko pointed to the fighter.

“Pollo!”

“Yes that’s Apollo. Mommy needs to leave again you going to be alright?”

Miko pouted and tugged on her mother’s long red curls.

“Wrong.”

“I’m sorry honey, mommy’s real hair is red.”

Miko shook her head.

“Silver, Hazel.”

Enid kissed her daughter’s head and hugged her close. Miko wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and kissed her cheek.

“Momma be safe.”

“Of course, I will, Apollo will get me home safe.”

“Dragons.”

Enid giggled. And made a bad attempt at a dragon roar.

“Dragon roar!”

Miko shook her head. She pointed to the sky.

“Dragons”

Enid quirked her head to the side and looked into her daughter’s emerald, green eyes. Miko looked pretty serious at the moment.

“Okay mommy will be careful with the dragons.”

Miko hugged Enid’s neck again. The reload console beeped telling her it was done. Enid stood up and put her arm under Miko’s behind. The girl snuggled her close and whispered into her ear.

“Love momma.”

“I love you too baby.”

Enid did a final physical check on the armaments while Miko clutched onto her. The little one mimicking her mother tugging and pulling on the various missiles and beacons.

“Hey Apollo, everything looks good, I’m going to go have dinner with the kids and Amee. Get some rest.”

“I do not need to rest; I am an artificial intelligence.”

“Then read a book.”

“Yes, Aunt Enid.”

Enid shook her head and walked inside to have dinner with her children and fiancée before she got suited up to leave for Andromeda.