Chapter Five
Trin finished her meal and looked at Birun. “I can go to the workshop?”
He nodded. “I will come get you. Make a list of anything you need. The workshop tablet is over on the long workbench on your left.” He gathered her tray and his dishes, taking them back to the slot. “You can also ask Boss if you like.”
“Okay. He’s good at lists. I will see you later.” Trin turned and darted back down the hall, curious as to see how fast the extruder was.
She heard laughter behind her but didn’t care. Well, she cared a little. She skidded to a halt and entered her new workshop, moving to the extruder. The components of her project were there, and she said, “Boss, where are the ratchet sets?”
“Bot coming on your left.”
A soft whirring came toward her, and it had a case in its clamps. She took the kit, grabbed her components from the extruder, and went to the workbench. She grinned and started putting her project together.
“Boss, do we have any motors and power packs?”
“What are you building?”
“Motorized scooter. This place is huge.”
“Build a helmet and knee pads.”
“Yes, Mom.”
He said, “Birun says you can’t go faster than five kilometres per hour unless you wear safety gear.”
She continued to work. “You squealed on me?”
“Yes. Birun said he will come in here and take your toys away if you don’t take care of yourself.”
“Fine. I will use safety gear, and the bots can do electrical testing for me.”
“Sensible. Now, go generate your safety gear.”
She sighed and stalked over to the unit, describing what she wanted and getting a full set of knee and elbow pads in the works.
She headed back to her workbench and kept working.
Two hours later, she set the scooter on the floor, put on her safety gear, and got on the scooter. She pushed off and cackled. The rollers glided beautifully, and this would let her work on her next projects. She picked up the backpack and said, “Boss, how close am I to dinner?”
“You have about an hour.”
“Can you ask Birun if I can pick some fruit to experiment with?”
There was a pause, and the reply came. “You can pick one pound of fruit you wish.”
“Okay. I might just zip around the halls for a bit.”
“You have an hour.”
It was enough time to see if she could build up some speed.
It was juvenile to use a scooter, but she had always wanted one.
Now she had made one herself from a design that had been in her head for years.
She took the scooter out of the lab, pointed it toward the greenhouse, and squeezed the accelerator.
She hummed along at a sedate speed, testing her brakes on the way.
She turned when she got to the greenhouse and headed toward the dining area with a bit more speed.
A door was open in the hallway, and she saw Birun at a desk as she whipped by. “Hey, Birun!”
She got to the dining area and turned, heading back down the hall. Birun was leaning against the wall outside what had to be his office, and as she approached, he flared open one wing.
“Oh, shit!” She braked and still got knocked off the scooter and onto her butt. “Dang it!”
The wing folded in, and Birun looked at her from above. “Are you injured?”
“Nope. Just didn’t count on the wing popping out like that.”
He smiled. “May I assist you?”
She nodded and held her hands up. He simply grabbed her around her ribs and set her on her feet. “Well, at least you were wearing safety gear.”
She snorted and said, “I am just going to put it back in the lab, and then I will be with you.”
He nodded. “It is an interesting first construct.”
“I always wanted one growing up, but Grandpa couldn’t afford it and wouldn’t build it. It was a waste of money and parts to him.” She hummed as she put the scooter back in the place she had gotten Boss to prepare for her. The helmet and pads were stowed on it.
“You don’t sound like your childhood was fun.”
“Oh, definitely not, but I learned a lot. I was put to work as soon as my casts were off and stitches removed.”
He hugged her again. She smiled. “Are you going to do that every time I mention my childhood?”
“Probably. I was built and came into the world as an adult. That kind of cruelty to someone so small fills me with rage and a strange urge to care for you.” He rubbed her back. “Well, that urge isn’t that strange. It feels particularly right.”
“I have to go wash my hands,” she muttered, holding her hands away from him. “I don’t want to get you dirty.”
He chuckled. “I appreciate that, but I am washable. Did you want to have dinner in the food court or somewhere special?”
“Everywhere here is special.”
“Dinner under the stars.”
She leaned back and smiled. “That does sound special.”
“I have created a new outfit for you. Something a little prettier.”
“This outfit is pretty. You saw what I was wearing when I arrived.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. This is an outfit I would enjoy seeing on you.”
“Okay, as long as I get to wash my hands first.”
He smoothed his hands down her back. She leaned in but still didn’t touch him. He sighed. “Fine, go wash up. Cleaning station twenty metres back and to the right.”
She smiled and headed back to get the axle grease traces off her hand. It took a sonic scrubber as well as cleanser and water, but she got her arms clean to the elbow.
She pulled her bodysuit back into normal lines and returned to the start of her workspace, where Birun was looking at her tablet. “You have quite a few projects listed here.”
“And I will have hundreds more. Some use the same parts. Some need other items on the list to be made first.”
“So, you are organized. Nebel wasn’t sure what you did and what your grandfather did. They all blended together.”
She shrugged. “That makes sense. So, where are we going for dinner?”
He grinned. “To my quarters. There is a light show tonight, and I thought it would be pleasant to watch it and have a nice meal. It is only you and me here, so I have to make date nights special.”
“Oh, you got into the Terran archive.”
He chuckled, and they began the walk back to his quarters. The workshop closed behind them, and he looked her over as they walked. “I think you might need some coveralls.”
She started laughing and knew her white suit with the black skirt was covered with smudges from a variety of substances.
She felt a touch on her mind, and he grinned. It was obvious that he understood what she was. It was such a relief to have one person who knew her inside and out.
“Not quite, but we will work on it.”
She looked at him with a frown, and he gave her an innocent smile.
The clothing he had prepared for her was a deep blue dress with white trim. She let her hair swing loose and walked out of the bathroom, doing a little twirl. The wide skirt flared out and away from her before settling. The little blue slippers let her twist and spin happily.
Birun was wearing a skirt in dark charcoal, and he had little gold clips in his hair. This felt like a prom; all she was missing was a corsage.
He looked at her and smiled. “I wanted something a little sturdier for you.”
She frowned, and a small parade of bots moved into the room, each carrying a box.
He smiled and said, “I was not expecting a consort to arrive and certainly didn’t expect one when the air outside could kill, but here you are.
” He took the first box and opened it, bringing out a flat collar necklace that would ride along her collarbone.
It was platinum with long crystals that she realized were diamonds.
“Oh, boy.”
He grinned and put the collar around her neck. Then there were earrings. “I know you could not leave Bellen without pierced ears.”
She smiled as his deceptively dexterous fingertips put long earrings in her ears. More long diamonds. There were wide cuffs on her wrists, and she was trying to figure out the value of the adornments, and her mind veered away from the amount.
He grinned. “They are not just jewels, but I will explain that later.”
“Oh. Okay. Does the dress fit okay?”
“Definitely. The skirt flares nicely.”
She paused, and mortification spread through her. “Please tell me it didn’t flare that high.”
“It did. Don’t worry. I enjoyed the view in the extreme.”
“Maybe I should use a sash across my hips.”
“Not on my account.” He smiled. “Come on, I will explain the purpose of the stones as we make our way to the table.”
She pointed to the corner of the bubble. “That table?”
Birun smiled and walked her toward it. “This is what is called traditional seating. For Hmrain, at least.”
“There is only one chair.”
“Correct.”
“So, we are starting this now?”
He lifted her hand to his lips as he bent. “Correct.”
He settled and eased her onto his lap. He pressed a kiss to her neck; she shivered and scrunched her shoulders.
“Now, I get to explain. The jewels that you are wearing are not just shiny; they are all data recordings. Each long stone is a data file with inventions from across the galaxies. Designs of millions of items. You are wearing an invention library on you, and each stone is a different world.”
Trin touched the necklace, earrings, and cuffs. “I can just use them?”
“Use them or be inspired by them. You are wearing inspiration. Use that.”
Bots came in with trays and set them on the table. Boss said, “All of your favourites, Trin.”
She stared at the table. “So, saying you would wait until I was comfortable...”
“I never said that, Trin. I said I would wait for the first contact, and you have contacted me a number of times. You are not afraid of me, and as long as that remains constant, we can move forward.”
“You knocked me off my scooter.”
He chuckled. “And you were going slow and wearing safety gear. Is your backside injured?”
“No, but thank you for asking.” She petted her wrist bands. “How do I get the languages I need?”
“You pick a crystal, and then a learning unit will set itself up, and you can gain the language if you don’t already have it. Now, explain to me what we will be eating.”