Chapter 130
Cleaning Up An Intergalactic Mishap
As it turns out, cleaning up an intergalactic incident is easy. First it requires a lot of money, then a lot of political promises. Then more money and finally an FOB strike.
“Yes, you heard me an FOB strike. Did you already forget what one was?” I found myself asking the members of Día’s crew.
“FOB? Like a forward operating base?” Drake an old special forces operative asked.
“No, the other FOB, as in Fucking Orbital Bombardment. They had to fire bursts down from space causing an impact crater.” I said.
“No such thing happened. The docking station still stands. What Mr. Goldman is trying to distract you from is the fact that he did manage to get rid of the infected bodies. Though he might not want to admit to the actual means that this occurred.” Día said, stealing my thunder and more importantly causing everyone get one step closer to the truth.
“Whoa there. No need to tell them lies now.” I covered.
“You know, you have a tell when you lie.” Día offered.
“Wait, I do?” I asked, suddenly deflating.
“Yeah, its every time you open your mouth.” Día said, then moved on before I could recover. “Now everyone gather round so I can tell you the amazing story about how Kyle had the great idea of flooding parasitic zombies with so much energy that they blew up. The only problem was, Kyle in his infinite wisdom didn’t even think about putting on mop gear that was offered him ten times. So, by the time the magic zombies exploded, they did so in a gooey soup that covered everything. I of course was able to just strip out of my suit and be fine. Fearless moron here was caught mid stare with his mouth agape as splashes of gooey zombie skin goodness covered him and entered his mouth.” Día said, excitedly as she began taking liberties with the story.
“That isn’t entirely true.”
“Oh you are right, I forgot to mention the way you tried to vomit up the contents of your stomach as you thought you swallowed.”
I thought about protesting but realized that doing so would only make me look worse. And honestly what could be worse than what she was saying.
“You know that’s how you can tell a first timer from a true pro.” Gavin, likely the dirtiest member of our crew began.
“What’s that?” Drake asked, clearly seeing the setup that this was.
“First timers gag and spit, pretending they don’t like it. True pros, they savor the flavor.”
At that everyone, even Día gaged in revulsion at the terrible joke.
GWAHHAHAH!
Gavin cackled like an evil villain.
Finally changing the subject Eva came up with a subject that was worth talking about. “So what do we the quarantine?”
“Oh, we are just under 24 more hours of observation. Then we will be set free.” Día said.
“Can we do that while running temples?”
“We could, but we actually have a different mission first.”
“Different mission?”
“Yes, we, and by we, I mean Kyle and I need to go out and heal a bunch of rich Beastkin nobles.” Día said.
“You are so lucky. Beastkin females are so hot. Add to that the fact that they are rich and you instantly have the easy life set for you.” Gavin said.
I just shook my head at the comment.
I apparently wasn’t the only one, as all the other females of the team also shook their heads at the comment.
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me I’m the only one willing to admit they are at least curious about what it would be like to be with a Beastkin?” Gavin said.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
At that everyone just turned away from him.
“Oh, come on. I can understand why Kyle wouldn’t answer truthfully, I mean he and the Duchess are of course an item. But not you, Drake, you aren’t even a little curious?” Gavin asked.
I held up my finger to protest, but then I paused looking over at Día, half expecting her to stand up for herself in this. To my surprise she didn’t say a word. In fact, if I didn’t know any better I would swear she was a bit flustered?
“Wait, you don’t?” I began to ask, but it was Día who stopped my potential question.
“I need to go look into adoption paperwork.” Día said.
“Adoption?” Everyone asked all at once.
“Oh, right. I guess I should tell you all. During our journey,” Día said gesturing first to me, then herself. “We found a recently orphaned beastkin girl. And well, we had the space and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.”
Everyone just paused at that revelation. So Día continued.
“It’s not like we don’t have the space for her.” Día said a bit defensively. “Also, with us being here, we can use her as a second interpreter.”
“You do know child labor laws are a thing. At least they should be for adopting an alien species.” I offer.
At that admonition she just glared at me.
“Anyways, her name is Kalypso and she is a going to be a permanent member of this crew. So, when you see her please treat her with respect.” Día said.
At that, I couldn’t help but feel that there was likely more to this seemingly random set of events than Día wanted to admit.
“Oh, and that reminds me. We have a new crew member that will be joining us as well.” Día said, a mischievous smile filling her lips.
“Another one of us?” Eva asked.
Of course, she was referring to women who were mind raped by my scum bag brother.
“Not quite. Though I guess you could say she is part of the group that owes Kyle a lot.” Día said.
“So I already know her?” I asked.
At that question, a devilish smile just appeared on Día’s lips. “Yeah. You could say that you know her quite well.”
I began wracking my brain for who this person could be. “Do you mean the Dwenvarian Queen?” I asked.
“No.” Día said, a malicious smile filling her lips.
I was about to say that I didn’t know anyone else, but then a disgusted look crossed my face as I asked. “Is it the Dwenvarian Security detector? The one with the magic wand thingy?”
“From what I recall, you were the one with the magic wand.” Eva commented.
“Yeah, a wand that got you labelled as a terrorist to the entire Dwenvarian race.” Drake added.
HAHAHA.
“No, I wish. Maybe we can pick her up on a return trip.” Día cackled.
Again, more laughs at my expense.
Finally, after a few minutes, I finally had to ask. “So, who is it?”
“No more guesses?”
I wanted to say that I didn’t know that many people here. But I stopped myself as that would likely end up with a lot of questions. While Día was aware of my status as being from an alternate universe, not many other people were truly aware.
Then I realized there were a few more. “Do you mean General Tigran and Rayquel?” I asked.
At that everyone paused to look at me.
“Wait, who do you mean by Rayquel?” Día asked, suddenly very interested.
“You know, the former guardian to the world tree.” I said.
“Former?”
“Wait…” Día said, as she grabbed me by the arm and led me around the corner of the ship to room that she closed behind us and instantly activated the privacy wards.
Once we were in the new room Día turned her eyes towards me and locked on. “What do you know about Rayquel.”
I thought about hiding it, about saying it was a different Rayquel, but then realized I had liked her directly to the Endarian General. Shrugging, I decided to answer truthfully. “You know how we,” I paused as I said we, knowing that the other part of that team were the two Jesses that were still passed out currently. Fortunately, I regained my composure before Día could make any comments. “Well, when we defeated the Behemoths, we negated the need for having World Trees to guide us. With their mission complete, they were recalled, and with that, so too were the needs for guardians. Thus, why Rayquel doesn’t have her wings anymore.”
“Wait, she doesn’t have her wings anymore?” Día asked.
Grimacing at that, I couldn’t help but feel I had said too much. But then realizing that it was a moot point now, I just shrugged and continued. “Yes, again without any more Behemoths, there is no need for World Trees. Without World Trees, their chosen protectors, the Guardians have been removed. At least the people who had earned that status.”
Día paused and watched me for a moment. Then she nodded to herself.
“I thought so.”
“Thought what?”
“I thought the older Jess had memories of you with Guardian wings. At the time I thought they were just wild memories of a mind in intense pain, but now I know.” Día began.
Hearing her, my mind latched onto two words. “Intense pain?”
At that, Día looked guilty for a second, but then shook her head. “No, not intense pain. They were in a state of relief. Neither feeling pain, nor discomfort. I was referring to the few moments she was semi-conscious before you retrieved her. Stop… let go of me.” Día said.
Only at her last comment did I realize I had grabbed hold of Día by the arms.
“Sorry. I…” I trailed off.
I cast Healing on her, but the damage had already been done. Or so I thought, there was nothing to heal. I had only reached out to grab her out of some primal instinct. An instinct I didn’t even know I had. Just the thought of hurting her filled me with such dread.
“No, you didn’t hurt me. You could have, clearly, but I…” She trailed off. For a second I thought she would avoid saying anything, but then she spoke. “Ever since the incident with your brother, I haven’t wanted to be touched. That is part of why I like you so much. I know you are well and fully betrothed to another.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have touched you.” I said. I remembered that is what dad used to do, back before he swore off alcohol.
“No, you were fine. I withheld information from you, and if our roles were reversed I would have likely done the same. No, I just…” She paused as she looked like she was conflicted by something.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked. I had been around Día long enough to know when she was clearly hiding something and right now it was obvious that she was clearly hiding something from me. Though I couldn’t tell what it was.
“You see, I should have known you were still bound to them. Well to her…” Día said, her voice trailing off as she continued to speak to herself.
“What? Of course, I am still in love with my Jess. I am sorry if I gave you any impression otherwise, but then again wasn’t that why we started this partnership? So, you could get rich, and I could try to find a way to finally heal Jess. Well both Jesses.” I admitted.
“I know. I also know how much it hurt you, when you realized you had your golden opportunity slip through your fingers when you handed it over to the Dwenvarian Queen.” Día said.
“Yeah, just rub it in.” I said, still angry at myself for missing that opportunity.
“No, that wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean to laugh at your anguish. I just realized that if you had taken that tonic. Then you would be gone from me. That you would leave us and likely never return.” Día said, a note of sadness filling her voice.
“I would…” I trailed off, knowing that what I was about to say would be a lie. I was going to tell her that I would be back, but that was clearly a falsehood. Finally after a second or so, I decided to tell her the truth. “I am sorry. I don’t know if I gave you mixed signals, but I only think of you as a sister figure.” I admitted.
Laughter.
She laughed the light way that one would, when they heard a bad joke. “I know. I feel the same way about you. But that said, I have grown close to you. I feel safe with you around. That was why I did something that I hoped would make you want to stay longer.”
Looking at her, I could only imagine what was happening. I was clearly missing something. “What did you do?”
Día opened her mouth to speak.
“Duchess, your new employee has arrived.” Drake’s voice rang out over the intercom.
Hearing that, Día closed her mouth as she debated what to do for a second, then coming to some conclusion she answered. “Perhaps you should come with me to greet the new crew member.”
“Okay?” I said, as I followed Día out of the room and to gangway. “Just who is…” was all I got, before I saw the newest crew member already standing on deck.
“Hello.”
At that, my jaw dropped as I looked to Día. Día for her part at least had the decency to look guilty.