Solara 18
I could afford a sheer pearl mermaid dress with crystal-lined straps like the pink-banded woman ahead of me, waiting to get into the dinner.
And I know Tasia has the radiant fiber optic tassel dress made by Masinni De Cirrina.
But I chose a simple off-the-shoulder silver sheath, low sheen, and my gloss black pumps.
As I enter the dining hall, I’m glad I’ve opted for the non-flashy route. Cameradrones are everywhere.
Finally, there’s an opening, and I find my way to an empty booth. But before I can sit down, a cameradrone buzzes in my way.
“Solara,” a male voice hurriedly says. “I heard from a source that you have slept with five different males since you arrived on the port. Social posts with pictures have been circulating since last night. How does a scarred augment surgeon think that is going to reflect on her social standing? You won’t be able to convince an upstanding species like the Isonians to take you in. ”
I don’t bother looking at the camera. “First, those are AI images because that didn’t happen.
Second, your words are not my reality. I don’t care what AI-generated content you use or how you want to twist my words or the facts.
I know my truth. Maybe no one else accepts me.
But I have never needed acceptance, not like you do. ”
“A personal attack?”
“You threw the first accusations. Following the if-then clause, if you had not made such a slanderous claim, then I would not have needed to defend myself in such a way. Now, please leave.”
I guide the drone out of my way and sit down.
“Solara, how rude.” The cameradrone hums as it spins to face me and zooms in.
“I don’t care. You do not respect boundaries or honor or common goals.
You are here for one purpose: to get dramatic and sensationalist stories that make people keep watching.
You do not understand how vulnerable we all are in this universe against the empire, or you would be more focused on stories that can help our allies find strength when the shadows seep in under the cover of night. ”
“Ooh, creepy.”
“I am disappointed that this is just a game to you, when it is meant to be a chance to form bonds, to lift human women out of the muck of this life and help provide mates to other species…an investment in our futures. It seems like you want to tear mine down.”
“Oh, you’ve had such a rough life living in your mansion…”
“I was kept there until I was strong enough to break out and get my own place,” I mutter, wondering where Onidus is.
Please get here soon.
“Working with high-end clients, making lots of money.”
“I actually did, yes. But I gave most of it away to people who were hurting. I volunteered without pay in many damaged regions, unincorporated areas hit hardest by invasions and most often abandoned because they weren’t the bigger concerns.
But you leave your safe little office in your high-rise tower and go out into the desert, to the small towns and unincorporated areas that have to rely on each other because the government doesn’t give a shit.
They will tell you a very different story from that corporate-level diamond-encrusted dildo working on the thirtieth floor of a celestial nose pick. ”
“Wait… Hey! You’re calling me a dildo?”
“Do you shake things up and fling slop?” I ask, sliding him a glare.
There’s a grunt and a slam of something gin the background. Then the drone’s speaker continues, “You gave up a lush life to come here for an alien brute. Why?”
I smirk. Now that sounds like my mother. “My mother and sisters had a luxurious life, yes. I had my own apartment, a car I paid for, and only things that I could afford. I did not live that life with them because my mother and father were divorced. I lived with my father on Delsfein.”
I sit forward, leaning toward the drone.
“I saw the annihilation of that world. I survived there as a teen for two weeks after the last survivors vanished in a blossom of light. So pardon me if I don’t give a flying fuck about your greed, your story, or your lies about me.
You have not seen the death and destruction I have.
So your opinion about my life, the narrative you want to spin, the imperfections you drag out…
are meaningless. I am too busy moving on. ”
The drone hovers closer, the lens focusing on my face. A large hand grabs it by the top and pulls it back.
“Hey, what are you doing?” the drone shouts as its propellers buzz in erratic patterns, trying to right itself.
Onidus appears beside me in shimmering gold armor, and he is gorgeous. He rotates the drone and looks into the lens. “Seems your credentials have been revoked, Carroya. See your drone out, or I will do it for you. But you can’t make a drone out of ash. You feel me?”
The drone grumbles, and the Return light illuminates. Onidus releases it and waits until it has left the room before sitting down across from me.
His arms bear golden gauntlets swirled with the same nouveau leaf-like pattern as his glossy mask. The armor over his chest and the cloak at his back are all the same pale gold color.
“And I was going for subtle,” I say.
He clasps his hands and rests them on his mask before bracing his elbows on the table.
“You look like you have something important to say.”
“It’s not random that we met here. There have been signals showing up in the Delsfein and Vibrance frequencies. Our Augurs have detected them while patrolling energies for threats to our motherships. But it would appear that they aren’t the only ones who sensed them.”
“You’re kidding.”
“While I was getting ready, reports came in from Viriden and our other command staff. ION, my ship, scanned Earth’s social media and found rumors of interdimensional shifts and someone linking it to Delsfein.
How they sense it or scan for it is beyond me.
But we have to acknowledge that they are here for you.
The ones hunting the signals and maybe the Delsfein.
Especially now that you admitted to him that you were in that world. ”
I grimace. “Great. I got played into another trap.”
“It’s why I tend not to talk to them. Media, I mean.”
I rub my forehead. “Deep down, I really just want to drop kick the drones.”
Onidus laughs. “You’re not the only one.”
He studies me with long sweeps of his gaze over my features. “You look stunning in that subtle outfit. I prefer subtle to this blaring monstrosity. But Lumen Command dictates attire for formal events. They’ll get on my case if a golden thread is out of place.”
“Well, you look delicious.”
He smiles and briefly looks away.
“Why are Delsfein important now? Few cared back when we were there.”
He leans back in the booth as a server takes our drink orders. Onidus insists on ordering food too.
Then, after a long moment of deep contemplation, Onidus answers my question.
“I’ve been thinking about this, trying to decide if something happened to us while we were there or if they’re trying to reach out to us because of something happening now.
The frequencies suggest call signals, help requests. Or so the Augurs say.”
“Help?” I think back to my augment office. “Like something audible through static?”
“Maybe.”
I chew a lip. “So if I told you I always thought I was crazy, but now I’m thinking I’m not because of what you’re saying… Would you be mad if I told you that I hear someone say help us when white noise machines are playing idle static over dead transmissions?”
Onidus’ lips part. “You do?”
I grimace and nod. “I have since Viriden took me back to Earth.”
“Then maybe they are trying to reach out for something.” Onidus drums a finger on his mask.
Our food arrives a few minutes later. I pick through it, eating even though I don’t want to.
But after starving on Delsfein, I know how lucky I am.
My sisters, these media drone operators, and the males my family paid to try to ruin me have never known that vulnerability of food insecurity.
Once I knew what starving felt like—the gnawing emptiness that was so painful I couldn’t stand up straight, the shuddering weakness through my body, and the fear that when I fell asleep I might not wake up—my entire concept of life and mortality changed.
“Maybe we should skip all of this hoopla and work on figuring that out,” I offer.
“I considered it, but half of the signals are here on Earth. Have you noticed anything strange?”
“No shimmer clouds, sentient plants, or those furry, glowing falenniis always getting stuck in the trees. Do you remember those?”
He nods. Onidus lifts his mask, feeds himself, then replaces it. “Curious how they would climb up but never down.”
“I always wondered if they never learned how because Delsfein residents always helped them. Or if the falenniis forgot. If they’re anything like my sisters, the moment someone showed that they would do something for them, they latched on and tried to get them to do it forever.”
I stab a piece of broccoli on my plate and lift my fork.
“I fell for it once. I wanted to make amends after returning home. So after I got my first job, I bought my sisters each something they had been talking about wanting. I wanted to see them happy. But after I saw how short-lived their joy was and how quickly they wanted more, I said fuck this. I told them to get their own jobs. They still haven’t.
But at least, I learned my lesson young. ”
Onidus finishes his plate and looks out through the window at the base. “I spoke with Viriden. He’s willing to take you on as a medic. But I want you to get your things tonight and move into my ship. He won’t let anyone in who isn’t authorized.”
Excitement thrums in my body. Working with Isonians has only been a dream. “Can we go right now?”
“Don’t you want dessert?” he asked.
“How about we get it to go so that you can eat it like a normal person on your ship?”