Chapter Six #3
Molly’s eyes turned silver. “That sneaky bugger.”
Bess smiled. “Morsek seems sweet.”
Cloudy cocked her head. “He’s thoughtful. All three of them work well together.”
Bess put her hand on Cloudy’s shoulder. “You look to have had a day. Let’s get a shot of dizzy and talk about it.”
They returned to the table, where Molly brought over a set of shots and chilled them with her hand. Molly smiled. “It’s still weird, but it was handy.”
Bess smiled, and they all settled around the table. The place hired mixed staff as long as they could do the job they applied for.
Bess lit the frozen shots with a small wave of heat, and they took their glasses, extinguished their beverages by blowing them out, and then sipped.
Cloudy explained her day, beginning with the stall in the water and finally getting to use her new gills twice.
Bess smiled. “And you went fishing and caught a Hazor.”
“More like I had a shiny window, and he smacked into it.”
Molly smiled. “You caught him with food when he was off a mission.”
“That, too.”
“You caught the other guys, too, but they weren’t going to step between you. They like their skeletons in a certain order.”
Cloudy blushed. “Uh, I don’t know how to feel about that.”
Her mother smiled. “Do you like him?”
“Yeah, he enjoys me asserting myself with him.”
Her father smiled. “Which is a criminal offense.”
“I know. He just gets in my way... a lot.”
Molly smiled. “The kissing is fun.”
Bess smiled. “Yeah, Arkon is... abrupt.”
“He’s direct. I like direct.” Molly shrugged. “The guardians look like they will be fun to date.”
Cloudy looked at Molly. “They don’t date.”
Molly frowned. “What?”
“It is on or off with those guys when it comes to humans. Their nanites alter their partners into ideal genetic matches, and we are the perfect material for change.”
Bess blinked. “Oh. Wait, but you and Hazor...”
“Yes? We are linked. We are psychically compatible, and the assessment centre just tested it to the extreme.” She sighed. “It is in our colony contract. If a compatible Hmrain gets involved, we are expected to agree to a companion contract at the very least. Consort contract if the match is exact.”
Bess paused. “So Morsek is going to return.”
“And make an appointment for you with the assessment centre. You, too, Molly. They are going to prove they are a match, and then you are caught. Nowhere on Siloven is beyond their reach.”
Bess muttered, “You don’t seem upset.”
“They have an amazing health plan and benefits, and we can insist on remaining local.”
Molly blinked. “What?”
Cloudy tossed a fish nugget into the air and caught it in her jaws, munching as she said, “We have strong community ties. It would be against local harmony to pull us out of our families and homes.”
A strong female voice said, “You seem to have grasped things, Cloudy.”
Cloudy looked up and smiled. “Overseer Yvari, Consort Mathon. Welcome to the Fired and Iced.”
“These are the ladies Morsek and Arkon are interested in?”
The humans in the pub were staring in shock at the second-gen Hmrain in their midst.
Cloudy stood and said, “Okay, introductions: this is Doctor Elspeth Merryweather, Doctor Thunder Merryweather, Bess Mocktuma, and her twin sister, Molly Mocktuma. My cousins on my mother’s side.”
Yvari nodded. “The close genetics are not ideal, but they have expressed that they are determined. So I wish to negotiate on their behalf.”
Molly looked around. “Does anyone mind going to the private room? The audience here is distracting.”
“Overseer, consort, would either of you like a beverage or snack?” Bess asked.
Yvari smiled. “We have not yet had dinner, so an assortment of Vecchin-safe foods would be welcome.”
Cloudy looked at her parents. “Do you want to come along?”
Elspeth picked up her shot and slammed it back. “Lead on.”
Thunder followed them.
They went to the private room where graduations and parties were held.
Yvari looked around and smiled. “These are artworks from your world?”
Cloudy smiled. “Reproductions, many from memory. They are family and friends and places. We remember.”
Yvari smiled at the walls covered with memories of a distant world.
“My brother’s wife would love to visit here, but he needs to finish training some relief guardians for Vecchin.
He and his team have children and need family time.
Hm, I suppose I should begin seeking backup for Hazor and the others. ”
Cloudy’s cheeks got warm. “Uh, that may be rushing things a bit.”
“And you can work on backup for the food stall,” Mathon murmured.
She laughed, and then realized he wasn’t kidding. “Oh. Right.”
Thunder said, “Sunny would be interested. He loves the payday.”
“I thought he was interviewing.”
“What he can make at the stall is more than he can make at any of the companies he’s been applying to.”
She blinked. “Right.”
Mathon smiled. “Dr. Thunder? I believe we have much to discuss.”
Cloudy looked around: Elspeth was talking with Yvari, and she was standing there until Bess and Molly came back in with trays.
For a day that had gotten out of control, it had just gone off the rails.